Republic or empire: the genealogy of the anti-imperial tradition in US politics

Abstract

This article analyzes an alternative perspective on the relationship between the USA and the concept of empire. We should note that another rich vein of policy dissent, the anti-imperial tradition, has long existed in American history. A republican tension between ‘empire’ and ‘republic’ has formed the core problematique of American political thought from the beginning. Furthermore, this enigma has haunted US politics along its trajectory, even though James Madison tried to invent a federalist solution to the ancient dilemma of liberty and power. Therefore, I will explore the lineage of the American tradition of anti-imperialism and its foreign policy manifestations, stretching back from the founding era to the contemporary world by re-reading American political development through the lens of republican security theory. I hope that such exercise will shed light on the future direction of US grand strategy in our age of the American hegemonic decline.