What the so-called “American empire” really is, then, is a voluntary alliance of neoliberal elites across nations to work together in their own interests, underwritten by American technological and financial might, backed up by the implied threat of American military force, and “legitimized” by an omnipresent propaganda barrage which insists that their cooperation benefits everyone. Note that the only truly “voluntary” parties to the alliance are the elites themselves; their peoples are rarely consulted and any objections they may raise are curtly overruled.
