| Yes, I suppose 'Manifest Destiny' (I assume you mean the process of annexing the rest of the continent at the expense of the native inhabitants? Forgive an ignorant foreigner if I'm misinterpreting.) could indeed be called imperialistic behaviour. There again, if having an indigenous ethnic minority makes you an empire, I struggle to think of many countries which aren't empires.
Neo-colonialism is another can of worms, but an interesting one. I think there have been more pressures in that direction over the last couple of decades: partly because the limitations of non-political measures such as charitable aid have become increasingly apparent, and partly because the risk of intervention touching off a nuclear war has, well, appreciably receded. But I think the awesome costs and risks of overt neo-colonialism are still a formidable deterrent. |