Chalmers Johnson

Perhaps what I found most interesting about this book was the sense it gave me that the United States has essentially followed in the footsteps of the British. In essence, it is picking up where the British Empire left off, but with today's issues driving them, rather than old issues such as the spice trade. I spent the last three months in England taking, among others, a course entitled "The British Empire". This coupled with Johnson's continued mentioning of various bases and efforts established by the British and taken over by the Americans leads me to believe that though this is not his primary argument as such, it certainly is a consequence of it. Of course one could argue that an empire may naturally emerge out of the loss of another, but I believe that Johnson intentionally mentions, for example, the US took over the Middle East during the Gulf War after the Brits left, its occupation of the Persian Gulf alongside the Brits, and the United States taking charge of the Suez canal situation, thereby forcing Britain to relinquish their holdings in the area.