America as Empire: Global Leader or Rogue Power?

In America as Empire, Jim Garrison urges us to face up to the complexities and responsibilities inherent in the indisputable fact that America is now the world's single preeminent power. "America," Garrison writes, "has become what it was founded not to be: established as a haven for those fleeing the abuse of power, it has attained and now wields near absolute power. It has become an empire."

Garrison traces the roots of the American empire to the very beginnings of the republic, in particular to the historic willingness of United States' to use military might in the defense of two consistent — if sometimes contradictory — foreign policy objectives: protection of American commercial interests and promotion of democracy.

How long can the American empire last? Garrison looks at American history within the context of the rise and fall of empires and argues that the U. S. can gain important insights into durability from the Romans. He details the interplay between military power, political institutions, and legal structures that enabled the Roman empire at its apogee to last for longer than America has as a country.

But the real question is, what kind of empire can and should America be? As the sole superpower, America must lead in shaping a new global order, just as after World War II Roosevelt and Truman took the lead in shaping a new international order. That international order is now crumbling under the pressures of globalization, persistent poverty, terrorism and fundamentalism. Garrison outlines the kinds of cooperative global structures America must promote if its empire is to leave a lasting legacy of greatness. Garrison calls for Americans to consciously see themselves as a transitional empire, one whose task is not to dominate but to catalyze the next generation of global governance mechanisms that would make obsolete the need for empire. If this is done, America could be the final empire.

"Garrison has provided a thoughtful analysis of why America became the strongest nation in history and what responsibilities lay ahead for our nation." George Soros

"Garrison, who has devoted much of his career to exploring the emergence of a new international system with the end of the cold war, offers a comprehensive examination of the idea of an American empire. His is a balanced, thoughtful, yet intellectually passionate contribution to the debate over American power and America's role in the world." Strobe Talbott, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of State (1993-2001); President, Brookings Institution

The insistence of the U.S. on "free trade, democracy, and the right of the United States to use military power at the discretion of the United States" means that "America was born to rule" like Rome, declares Garrison (president, State of the World Forum). However, he worries that the Bush administration doesn't realize that it was also, like Athens, "born to inspire." He argues that the United States should gladly take up the imperial mantle that has been bequeathed to them since before the Bush administration, but that it should not neglect the construction of politically legitimating doctrines and institutions of empire. If American presidents can follow in the footsteps of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman by constructing international norms, it can, Garrison believes, become the "final empire."
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In this timely and telling book, Garrison argues that the preoccupation with military expansion is a fatal mistake, citing both FDR and Harry Truman as models for combining military power with institution building.