Jerry has raised this topic many times over the years. Here is a post-9/11/01 snapshot...

10/26/2001 Friday

From Jerry Pournelle today:

"The war continues. We still don't know what it is we want from it, and it's becoming clear we aren't likely to figure it out. We won't be able to until we make a more fundamental decision: are we a republic or an empire? Until we know, we will not know how to fight this war, because we will not know what we want the world to look like when it is over.

If we are a republic, then the purposes of the war are fairly simple: we want every ruler, anywhere, monarch, dictator, chairman, president, caudillo, prime minister, or whatever other title he holds, to understand that allowing people to plot harm to the United States on his/her territory is a very bad idea, and will result in the replacement of the ruler. We will replace him with someone likely to be friendly to the United States, but we won't attempt to run that country so long as it does us no harm and does not harbor those who want to do us harm.

If we find poverty and corruption we may be able to help, and if we can we probably will, but we won't help by overthrowing your government and substituting one of our own, and much of our help will be through private charities. Distribution in your country can be by private agencies which may be protected by people hired through Soldier of Fortune.

We are the friends of liberty everywhere but the guardians only of our own. We will not be friendly to dictatorships, but we will mind our own business. We will neither prop up nor bring down regimes we don't like. We will prop up democratic nations largely through trade and aid, but we will choose our friends fairly carefully.

And we will invest in hemispheric resource independence, in energy and everything else. And we reserve the right to act in our own interests in this hemisphere. Monroe Doctrine and all that.

If we are an empire, the purposes of the war are a bit more complex. Once again we want people to understand that it's not a good idea to plot harm to us and our people, but do be sure of that, we will impose regimes we like. In general that means liberal democracies, but if the democracy isn't liberal we'll replace it with one that is. We will spread rule of law, and a mixed economy, more or less market-place capitalist but with compassion and a safety net. We won't let people starve nor will we allow bandits to steal the food from the children's mouths. We will shoulder the White Man's Burden, but we won't claim any special superiority and we will punish hate crimes and eliminate racism.

That will be the goal, at least. Some among us will recall how well we have done in Haiti in nation building, and have doubts; but surely it is worth trying? 

Of course I have stated things differently from the way they would be put by a good imperialist. Moreover, there are imperialists who are quite certain that the White Man's Burden is real, and so is, if not exactly white, then at least anglo-american superiority, quite willing to prove it to those we govern: carrying Liberte, Fraternite, Egalite on the points of our bayonets, and realist enough to know that those carrying the bayonets are not likely to be pure in heart or motive.

For the truth of the matter is that unless we have some reason to believe in our superiority, and thus our obligation to spread the benefits of our civilization, then we won't have idealists doing the work. We'll have to hire it done. But those who are too pure to go do it will sit in judgment over those who have done it. And eventually there will come a time when we want to prosecute a military warrior adored by his men, and the prosecutors will be those who despise the military and hold all force and violence in contempt, and --

Am I making this up? Of course. But the scenario is more than possible, isn't it?

There is a price to empire. Are we willing to pay it?  But I think we will; worse, I believe we will thing we are paying the price when in fact we are not willing to do it."