The New Imperial Age
Foreign Affairs••world
Key Points:
- The article draws parallels between the U.S. intervention in Venezuela under President Trump and the era of heavy-handed U.S. interventions in Latin America that began in 1898 following the Spanish-American War, marking the start of American imperial expansion.
- Key elements of this historical era—economic protectionism, territorial acquisition, and a civilizational worldview that ranked societies hierarchically—are echoed in Trump’s policies, including his interest in reclaiming territories and his approach to Venezuela.
- McKinley and Roosevelt’s conception of power combined domestic economic strength, territorial expansion, and a belief in the U.S. civilizational mission to intervene in other countries deemed unstable or uncivilized, a framework revived in Trump’s foreign policy.
- The
