The Fall of an ?Empire?

I think the U.S. is sort of following paths that other 'empires' have taken in the past. We (U.S.) are sort of going through a mass spread of power. These wars we are getting ourselves into it or in quick succession with one another, and don't wait until the one before is finished. Is it just my thought that if this continues, the U.S. might actually lose its power, like other great States have in the past. First we 'attacked' Afghanistan, and it didn't really seem like that BIG of a war back then. Since then, we've felt the need to get into a war with Iraq, and had "not-so-great" relations with South Korea. And now with the recent threats of a war with Iran, the loss of power in the United States is starting to seem inevitable in my eyes. Sure, we may have the equipment to win these wars, but if we keep getting into these small wars in quick succession, doesn't it seems like we will have a HUGE problem on our hands? Especially since we're still experiencing military conflict in Afghanistan?

the US isn't an empire, its a 'superpower'.

but yeah i agree with what your saying, all you have to do is do a search on the 'rise and fall of powers WW2' and you can see america haven't been in the 'superpower' game long enough!!

you also have to look at what they spend on their military, they are spending the same amount now as what they was doing during the cold war era (could they do a USSR and destory themselfs)?

war on iraq has cost the US around $300billion (and still rising).

i'm not sure what alfganistan cost, but with iran 'supposedly' next, (which will prove a much tougher obstacle than iraq).

it makes you wonder 'HOW CAN THEY DO IT!!'

something has got to give - especially with an upcoming china (& with russia starting to stand on its feet again)

what america needs is allys, something america has lost a lot of globally, because americas goal (controversial as it is) is something it cannot do by itself!!

its an impossible task - 'war on terrorism' - theres 1000's of terriosts groups in the world.

yet the US/UK is struggling with just one (the taliban/al-qaeda) - just this terrorist group alone has put both of our countrys to war TWICE in the last 5 years and the funny thing is (al-qaeda are still at large)!!

'war on terrorism' - is an impossble goal and terrorism is something that can never be abolished.









[edit on 10-4-2006 by st3ve_o]

US has an economic empire, not an empire in imperial sense. Rememeber, the European Empires still have influence in their former colonies, so once the US looses its "superpower" title, it will still have influence on the World. Its not the be all and end all. Russia still does after the break up of the USSR and heavily influences former Soviet states.

Originally posted by st3ve_o
the US isn't an empire, its a 'superpower'.

Or a hyperpower or in the future a gigapower. Theres always the possibility that U.S. would lose influence worldwide. But its not enough to cripple the U.S. to the point of being a third world nation or the world going back to the Dark Ages after the fall of Rome. For example we fought two fronts during WW2 on both sides of the oceans that demanded vast amount of resources. Now these days we are not using those vast resources. Its more like fighting a war we could end, but there are rules we we can't end it immediately. We have troops stationed all around the world for over a century. The U.S. hasnt gone down. And O yeah people say that America would fall after the Vietnam defeat which drained America. Didn't see it happened.

This post is rhetoric.


Being a professional resident of the USA, I can speak on this subject. Don’t confuse a bad President with the fall of an "empire" as you call it.

Unemployment is down, the markets are strong. The are more millionaires in the USA right now than at anytime in its history (partly due to property values). The quality of life is as strong as it’s ever been. And like the war on terror or not, the cold hard fact is that since 9/11 there has not been any significant terrorist activity on US soil. No matter how it ends, at the very least awareness has been heightened.

And as far as the Middle East is concerned, that has nothing to do with USA power. The Middle East has been unstable for centuries, long before the USA has even existed. What’s going on in Iran and the rest of the area is the world’s problem, not just the USA's. The only difference between what’s going on in the Middle East today than in the past is that now they have the ability to spread their instability to the world. As much as I dislike Bush, he had the balls to start to do something about it. It’s only a matter of time before the world grows a set and joins the fray. And I think they are starting to come around already.

@ skippy, i disagree!!

all this as a lot more to do with 'freeing middle-eastern countrys of trouble'.

i think oil and political gain comes into the agenda, i'm not going to go into it again because ive wrote out my reasons many times!!

but do you HONESTLY think the US spent $300 billion to get rid of a 71 year old man (saddam) and put him in a joke of a court room?

but yeah going back to what you said, why the middle-east then? -

at least middle-eastern countrys have got homes (some with mcdonnalds, internet),

so why don't nations all do something better and free africa of poverty? (will be a lot cheaper) and more rewarding.

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i'll tell you why they won't, NOTHING TO GAIN FROM IT.







[edit on 10-4-2006 by st3ve_o]

Originally posted by skippytjc
This post is rhetoric.


Being a professional resident of the USA, I can speak on this subject. Don’t confuse a bad President with the fall of an "empire" as you call it.

Unemployment is down, the markets are strong. The are more millionaires in the USA right now than at anytime in its history (partly due to property values). The quality of life is as strong as it’s ever been. And like the war on terror or not, the cold hard fact is that since 9/11 there has not been any significant terrorist activity on US soil. No matter how it ends, at the very least awareness has been heightened.

And as far as the Middle East is concerned, that has nothing to do with USA power. The Middle East has been unstable for centuries, long before the USA has even existed. What’s going on in Iran and the rest of the area is the world’s problem, not just the USA's. The only difference between what’s going on in the Middle East today than in the past is that now they have the ability to spread their instability to the world. As much as I dislike Bush, he had the balls to start to do something about it. It’s only a matter of time before the world grows a set and joins the fray. And I think they are starting to come around already.

When I say the fall of an empire, I am mostly referring to the government and military; not all of the citizens in the country as well. Soon, even with all of our weaponry, we are going to be experiencing problems because we simply won't have enough manpower to cover all of these countries at once..

By the way, forgot to comment on your post Steve. But you're absolutely right; no country wants to do something that doesn't have mutual benefit. There are tons of countries that have the power to do things like save Africa from poverty, but they choose not to because they won't be getting out of it as much as they are putting in in their opinions. By the way, nice use of that second picture; very famous if I recall correctly.