Contra TracingWoodgrains on American Imperialism

@TracingWoodgrains writes an optimistic approach to American Imperialism here:

The fights over Haitian immigration have made me think about Mormonism and immigration again.

One thing I've always admired about Mormonism is its eagerness to proselytize to anyone who will listen. They currently have some 25,000 members in Haiti, and have built a temple there.… pic.twitter.com/7h8V0H5ND9

— TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) September 13, 2024

I am not certain whether Mr. Woodgrains is speaking practically here, in this fullest extent of: does Mr. Woodgrains actually desire for Mexico to be annexed by the United States?

I'm afraid to say that I think Mr. Woodgrains has missed the point of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. The whole point of neoliberal ideology which was ascendant in the 1990s was the export of American culture to any and everyone that would listen.

It turns out that large social structures based on a single pole are unstable. Many poles and a limit to the maximum size makes things manageable because local problems can be solved locally.

The age of border expansion has ended because it's easier to just talk with the government that's already there.

That said! The American empire is founded principally on the strength and robust character of its allies. Our entire foreign policy is based around the premise that our friends are able to stabilize their region of the world.

There is already a voluntary American Imperial War Machine, and the UN is allowed to give it a rubber stamp of approval.

If our trade is unified, if our military forces are unified, then why does it matter if the EU calls itself the EU, and not "European America"?

This is why the earth shook when the president at the time undercut NATO.