Uncle Sam: Imperial bully or hegemon boss? A conceptual distinction between American empire and hegemony

Abstract

Over the last few years, and especially since the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 in the United States, an intense and controversial new debate is raging within the context of the globalised world. In the aftermath of these attacks, George W Bush launched a crusade against terrorism aptly christened the 'War on Terror'. American attacks on Afghanistan (with wide-ranging support from both the Western and non-Western world) and especially the war in Iraq (with far less support) have stimulated and given new urgency to the debate about 'American imperialism.' Interestingly, long before the current debate, it only used to be foreigners and those on the fringes of US politics who referred to an 'American Empire'. The latter term was often used to criticize the emerging 'single super-power' status the United States acquired after the end of the Cold War (Ferguson 2003b:64). Especially countries in the developing world, anti-globalization move-ments and Arab states are viewing the current dominant position of the United States very negatively and with suspicion.