# Cumings, Bruce, "Is America an Imperial Power?," Current History (November 2003). 1.37-3

Imperialisms, Ancient and Modern, Cumings, Bruce, "Is America an Imperial Power?," Current History (November 2003)., Lines 1.37-1.3. Latin.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/latin/imperialisms-ancient-and-modern/cumings-bruce-is-america-an-imperial-power-current-history-november-2003/1.37

In March 2003 the strategy of preemption quickly gave way to a preventive war against Iraq in an attempt to stop Saddam from possessing weapons of mass destruction (weapons that have yet to be found). So far the war in Iraq has not had the worst consequences for regional security that many critics worried about, even if the occupation has turned into an unholy nightmare. But a restive world may present an unavoidable crisis—most likely in North Korea—where containment and deterrence abruptly give way to preemption and disaster.
In September 2002 George Kennan, then 98, gave a little-noticed interview to The Hill , just after the National Security Council released Bush's new doctrine. Here was "a great mistake in principle," Kennan said. Anyone who has studied history "knows that you might start a war with certain things in your mind," but you end up fighting for things "never thought of before." Launching a second war with Iraq "bears no relation to the first war against terrorism," he remarked. Moreover a decision for war "should really rest with Congress" (but not with congressional Democrats, who have been "shameful and shabby" not to mention "timid," in their reaction to Bush's war plans). Here was distilled wisdom, drawn from a lifetime of service to the country's diplomacy. At some point, astute judgment like this about the inherent limits of American power will again become obvious to the people, as it did in Viemam a generation ago, and America's leaders will return to their only hope: leading with allies; forming coalitions with them acting as first among equals.
Notes:
1. Among several, see Andrew J. Bacinevich, American Empire: The Reality and Consequences of US Diplomacy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003); Niall Ferguson, Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons of Global Power (New York: Basic Books, 2003); Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Empire (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002). Harvard professor Michael Ignatieff has published two recent articles on US imperialism in The New York Times Magazine . Even presidential candidates are getting into the act: see General Wesley Clark, Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism and the American Empire (New York: PublicAffairs, 2003).

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Imperialisms, Ancient and Modern, Cumings, Bruce, "Is America an Imperial Power?," Current History (November 2003).. Text: The Latin Library (thelatinlibrary.com), used with permission. Changes: HTML markup removed and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
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