American Empire

I found this weeks readings quite interesting as I have always been interested in the idea of "American Imperialism". In the text Dawson remarks how The United States claims to be at its core an anti-imperialist nation, however in action it seems to be anything but. Over the course of US history it has been largely expansive and the idea of manifest destiny has been quite prevalent. However military conquest and colonialism have not been the method of choice for US expansion/domination in Latin America. While military intervention has been used multiple times, economic and cultural domination seems to be the norm, whether intentional or not who knows. I would say that the economic domination is an intentional aspect of many American policies. Creating markets for US products and finding secure stable sources of resources is paramount during this period to American interests. This policy of economic domination obviously leads to discontent within the nations of Latin America and aids in stirring up discontent. Though supported by local oligarchies and business interests who stand to gain from such policies, many of the lower levels of society may not be as content or willing to toe the line. Augusto Sandino in the Political Manifesto makes it abundantly clear where he stands on the idea of US involvement in Nicaraguan affairs. He remarks on how he is born from the "bosom of the oppressed". He is a patriot and loyal citizen of his beloved homeland Nicaragua and pledges to fight against those who he believes have sold the soul of the nation away. He calls those in power snakes, and lambastes them for going over to the enemy as he puts it. The enemy in this case being the United States. He describes the flag of Nicaragua hanging limply and needing to be torn from "the claws of the monstrous eagle with the curved beak" This period of history marks the beginning of US hegemony as far as economics are concerned. The US decided that they would not allow other major powers a hold in the "backyard" so to speak and took steps to ensure this. Despite what the nations of the area desired. As I mentioned the cultural domination seems to have come with the economic part and parcel. As the economies of Latin America became more intertwined with the US so to did their cultures. This also angered many who saw this as weakening and sometimes destroying the cultures of these nations. Even to this day the spread of US culture seems to be unstoppable. Globalization has led to an ever closer link between the nations of the world and those with the most abundant production of culture seem to over power all else. This leads to resentment and discontent by many and may have caused many of the conflicts of today.