American Nationalism In Robert Kagan's The Benevolent Empire

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In The Benevolent Empire, Robert Kagan’s main focus is on the necessity of the benevolent hegemony of the United States as it is an empire that protects its allies more than itself. Kagan begins by making a reference to the Lewinsky scandal and how the world reacted to a possibility of having a weakened American president. He then talked about the international concern and fear from American hegemony as well as the supporters of the important American role in preserving a “semblance of global order”. For Kagan, reliance and resentment for American international dominance are not new. He argues that current resentment is a result of the expansion of American dominance in the post-Cold War era and the talks about a multipolar system and European …show more content…
He also states that the military and economic strength of America helps it achieve any number of “global ambitions”. Also, since the United States emerged as a great power, it has maintained the interests of its allies with its own through defense and foreign policy. As a result, Kagan considers American hegemony as generous in terms of the interests of others and that the countries that have “long benefited and still benefit” from America’s power and international order should encourage American hegemony. In fact, Kagan says that any alternative to American hegemony will not create peace and prosperity and if one superpower should exist, it is the United States. In his conclusion, Kagan makes it clear that the world may criticize the American arrogance, but at the same time, the United States is the only superpower which provides stability and prosperity as well as the fact that the United States is the only country willing to make long-term sacrifices to preserve global order while other countries fear geopolitical consequences of ending American hegemony and the expense for preserving such a …show more content…
Falk’s article argues with imperialists such as Robert Kagan that the United States’ imperial moment is not a benevolent political configuration and he also questions the claim that the United States provides global security without oppression and exploitation. To explain why the American Empire is heading towards global fascism, Falk focuses on three elements associated with America’s control. Firstly, Falk states that the United States is not as big as previous empires, but with its “authoritarian approach” in repudiating international law and its possession of unmatched military power indicate America’s move to become a fascist empire. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 serves as Falk’s main example of proving that the American Empire is heading towards a “system of militarized control” which does not respect international law and the United Nations. Secondly, he describes America’s imperial control as a threat of “global fascism” which he proves through analyzing the Bush administration’s response to the 9/11 attacks and how that response was extended to other “axis of evil” countries in the National Security Strategy and the Bush doctrine. In its war on terrorism, Flak argues that the American

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