Yes I know, and Rome was around for a long time before it became an empire too. Rome was a true republic up until the Caesar's, then it became an Empire. There was a point in the last century when historians believe America made this transition too. After 1945 some say, though some point to an earlier transition, back when the United States exercised significant control over Cuba, annexed Hawaii, and claimed Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines as territories. Personally I think 1945 is more likely because that was when the US truly expanded it's influence globally and the $US became the world's reserve currency, a classic sign of the dominant empire.
I don't want to seem to be belaboring the point but the point is the "Dominant Empire" Such as Rome was, such as Britian was, as America is today, exerts an undue influence on the rest of the world. These ideas of gender and finance and whatever mostly had their roots in the Empire which for 80 years has controlled the thinking in the West. How many US TV shows did you grow up watching? That's cultural influence, and then for example, when the US went off the gold standard and onto a free floating currency because of the massive debts it was acruing all other nations followed suit. They had to to keep up, and because all major commodities are traded globally in $US. When the US health officals proclaimed lockdowns of society were deemed necessary due to the corona virus all other nations followed suit. Except for a few, like Sweden. The dominat Empire leads the way. We might think we are independent, but the state of our societies say otherwise. We have all the same problems because we are all following the same lead.
Not that I'm suggesting we would have done much better under another empire, all power driven empires go this way, Power generally corrupts as they say. But this Empire is running out of steam, Fast! And typically the way an Empire restores it's power base is War, all out War in this case probably.
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