RomeUSA

Currently, in many parts of the world there are many articles, exhibitions, films and shows about various aspects of the Roman Empire. It is one of the great stories in the history of the human race, this city-state that grew to dominate or control much of the known world for a millennia. Perhaps the striking parallels between America now and the fall of the Roman Empire unconsciously spark this interest.

There is no suggestion here that being an empire is necessarily a good thing. However, like being tall or short for an individual, sometimes there is no choice. For me, the idea of being a taller tree in the forest has always appealed, but it’s easy to understand a different, perhaps less dangerous ambition.

America has been one of two or three super powers for just under one hundred years. Like it or not, at the point the USA joined the First World War in 1917 and demonstrated the ability to project its power anywhere in the world it became an empire. It started, mainly as an empire of the dollar and became an empire of ideas, culture and power as time passed. Latterly this has resulted in America becoming the only super power as the Soviet threat evaporated.

Will America go the same way as Rome, and be overwhelmed by the barbarian hordes?

Rome expressed its power by military conquest over a very long time, as inch by inch it grew to totally dominate the then known world. It enforced its will by ruthlessly destroying or enfolding any local culture it found so that they were dominated, emasculated, or made to disappear. Then the Roman bureaucracy would be installed to extract tax and other revenues and it was ultra efficient compared to anything that previously existed. It was this stage of economic domination when Rome truly demonstrated any empire’s true role. Empire’s are created by their need to suck in raw materials and labor and export finished products for sale.

Rome after many years as top dog, begun to lose the certainty in itself, in its rightness as its power began to wane. For many hundreds of years Rome was confident in its civilization and systems. It was certain that it had things right and that they were destined to rule the earth. All empires possess this self-confidence or they could never expand to fill the world of their time with their ideas.

America first demonstrated its self-confidence with the use of this name. It is, of course, not America, just a part of that continent. However the self-image was that the United States of America was so dominant that all the other countries in that continent were somehow less important and not worthy of the all-encompassing name. You never hear any Canadian or Mexican or any other country in that continent claim the name, America. Only the USA has ever claimed to be America, and throughout the rest of the world it became the name that stuck. It says a lot about the psychology of a nation that its people can call themselves American and it is totally accepted and understood by the world. You have never heard British people call themselves a European and be understood to have meant he was British.

America’s power originally came from its huge industrial capacity. Its rapidly growing cheap labor pool, drawn largely from immigrant population growth, enhanced this. This is a very similar model to that enjoyed by the Roman Empire’s use of slaves. The nearest parallel today is the huge shift in population from rural to urban by the Chinese nation. It is this growth of China’s industrial capacity that threatens to end the American Empire.

The demonstration of America’s hegemony is best achieved by understanding what it does, that we either like or tolerate or admire, but would make us very fearful if enacted by others, such as China. Imagine the outcry if our cinemas, music downloads, a majority of our television programs, and almost all our fast food outlets were Chinese in origin. Add to this the concept of a mighty Chinese navy, including a dominant force of aircraft carriers prowling all the major oceans of the world, and the Chinese invading and then being stationed in countries far from their own borders. I am describing what America does and China still only dreams of.

Is this American domination coming to an end? To accept this contention means you don’t understand the modern world. In this era of globalization it is the American corporations that are the ambassadors of American power. As long as they exist and prosper, wherever they seem to be based is largely irrelevant. They culturally and economically remain anchored in the American dream.

This American originated, market driven capitalism has largely been a huge success, but is inherently neutral as a moral force. There are threats to this domination. Chief amongst them is China, which is the ultimate paradox; having allowed the individuals total immersion into this system whilst the state still centrally controls the country’s economy in a stifling Communist embrace. It is this inherent dichotomy that dictates China will either ultimately implode, or morph into something unrecognizable, before it can truly threaten American dominance.

Russia is rapidly asserting itself as a regional power but is far from being the world giant it was during the Soviet era. Much of that power was purely military or scientific rather than cultural or commercial. The country is still an industrial basket case in many ways. Yes, Russia will increasingly flex its muscles by economic coercion allowed by its huge levels of gas, oil and other raw materials. However, it should be born in mind that Canada is similarly placed with these raw materials and cannot dominate the giant neighbor to its South.

The only other economic super power is the European Union which is a behemoth, if it were to ever act as a whole rather than as a fairly lose association of 27 sovereign countries. There is no practical political centre to its power and whilst this remains the case the EU will not become an empire.

There are no other powers yet capable of taking over this super power, empirical role. America, you will be overcome, one day, but that day is not quite now. America, we salute you!