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The State of the American Empire.

Article Excerpt
THE STATE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE: How the USA Shapes the World. By STEPHEN BURMAN. 132 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., tables, bibliog., index. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. $50.00 (cloth), ISBN 9780520248779; $19.95 (paper), ISBN 9780520248786.

Viewing the title of Stephen Burman's The State of the American Empire, one might assume that an anti-American stance or at least a position polemically critical of imperialism informs the text. However, Burman's status as a member of an American Studies department and the analytical tenor of his previous work on aspects of U.S. foreign policy belie this surface impression. Once into the text, the reader will see that a more nuanced view of the contents is called for to appreciate what this atlas accomplishes.

The introduction sets up the descriptive analysis that follows by invoking a quotation intended to give some insight into the American Empire as Burman sees it. Interestingly, Ronald Reagan is the first person he quotes: "The United States is unique because we are an empire of ideals" (p. 9). Accordingly, this twist on the notion of American exceptionalism--in this case as a...