#98, April 25, 2006

A Bag of Imperial Chips

The point to be noted about the so-called new American Empire is not that it is new. If we believe this then we imagine that recent events – recent forays in global intervention – have been a departure in American diplomacy and foreign policy from isolationism or non-engagement and a move towards imperialism. Perhaps the true tragedy of American diplomacy is not, as William Appleman Williams suggested, the falling into the quagmire of imperialism – a loss of innocence or a sacrifice of American principles – but the belief that there has been a fall in the first place. Believing in the fall from grace provides a sense that there is a resting place for American political culture that is beyond empire. As if the American Revolution really did make a break with the past and end history in a real sense.

[There is a nice point in the book 1066 and All That – recently renamed for use in American High Schools, 1066, All That, and a Bag of Potato Chips (but I digress) – where the authors say at the end of the section on the War for Independence that history came to an end in the United States. This is not accurate, of course, but it is certainly correct about one historiographical, exceptionalist tendency.]

Instead, we need to recognize that empire and imperialism are important to interpretation of the fundamental workings of American society. This is the case not just in the interpretation of American diplomacy and foreign policy both within and beyond the North American continent, but in the fundamental structure and ordering of American society. This is why comparative analysis still bears considerable potential, if it is seen in relation to empire and the imperial. I have outlined this extensively in my work Inside Out, Outside In, and in several recent published articles, so I won’t elaborate on this here. I will just say that some people have emphasized comparisons, while others have tried to focus on connections. I have tried to take both simultaneously, redefining the sites of comparison (London, Bombay, New York, anyone?) so that these can more readily encompass empire, and using connection and comparison to understand how it is that connections and comparisons are chosen and interpreted. Now if you want an explanation of that you’ll need to look at “Apropos Exceptionalism,” “Making the World Safe for American History,” “Unreal Cities,” “Uneasy Streets,” “Valleys of Fear,” and a few of my other essays.