So far, not so sorry.(The Sorrows of Empire - book review)(Book Review)

The Sorrows of Empire By Chalmers Johnson Metropolitan Books US$25

After the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the only remaining superpower decided not to live in peace. Instead, the United States has chosen to strengthen its position as the biggest military machine in history, despite the world's disgust with Washington's increasingly imposing weight. So concludes Chalmers Johnson, a specialist in Far Eastern affairs, in his latest work, The Sorrows of Empire.

Before the Sept. 11 attacks, Johnson writes, the United States had 725 military bases scattered around the planet in places as out of the way as Greenland, Okinawa and the Indian Ocean. This global network constitutes a veritable empire that violates the sovereignty of many countries, Johnson writes. The installations themselves are fortified cities in which the Pentagon tries to offer the most comfort possible to its soldiers: housing, plenty to eat, medical attention, stores, gyms, pools, sports fields and so on. What worries the world is the independence of these bases in regard to the domestic legal systems under which they reside and U.S. administrations' unwillingness to allow its military to be judged in international courts.

More than a half-million U.S. soldiers, spies, technical experts, civilian contractors and other employees are working abroad now, Chalmers observes, while companies favored by the Pentagon and the White house (an example is oil-services company Halliburton, at which U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was once CEO, but there are others) gel lucrative contracts.

Chalmers' argument against the imperialist stance of the United States is based on historic warnings against militarism, including passages from speeches by George Washington and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The latter, one of the most decorated generals of the past century, is famous for his pronouncement against the collaboration of big business and armed forces--the military-industrial complex. According to the author, foreign policy, especially under George W. Bush, is now in the hands of the petroleum and defense industries, aided by bureaucrats they have befriended in the Pentagon and other government departments.

Although former U.S. President Bill Clinton also promoted imperialism under the friendly guise of globalization, Chalmers is especially tough on the administration of the junior Bush. He accuses the current White House of putting into practice a plot to dominate the world, dreamt up in the 1990s by Republican politicians linked to the government of Ronald Reagan and to the Bush family's political dynasty.

Years ago, the French philosopher Raymond Aron spoke of the United States as an "imperial republic." Chalmers goes one step further and compares the United States to the Roman Empire, an analogy that others have made but remains debatable. Nevertheless, Chalmers believes that the course of the country is set: He doesn't think that its citizens will more to regain control of the Congress, eliminate favoritism toward special interests, nor slow the militarization of U.S. society.

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