The Empire Has No Clothes

Overview

Delving into the concept of the United States as an empire, this investigation examines U.S. interventions around the world—from the Spanish-American War to the invasion of Iraq—demonstrating how they not only contradict the principles of both liberals and conservatives but also make a mockery of the Founding Fathers' vision for a free republic. In recent years, "blowback" and the enormous expansion of federal power have threatened the American homeland itself, curtailing the liberties these interventions were supposed to protect. This book, however, exposes the flaws of U.S. interventionism and advocates a return to military restraint.

Reviews

"The Empire Has No Clothes is an excellent contribution to the debate on the Bush Doctrine of waging preventive wars, maintaining hegemony, and spreading democracy by force."  —Lawrence J. Korb, former assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Defense

“The Empire Has No Clothes is an extremely sensible book. I agree with Ivan Eland’s argument, though I doubt if it will be much appreciated by those in power."  —Paul M. Kennedy, author, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

“The Empire Has No Clothes is a very important book. There are a lot of books out now about empire, but this is probably the most searching and the most provocative. The debate extends far beyond just the current situation. This book could have been written even if we had not gone to war two years ago in Iraq. We have had an empire by anyone’s definition.”  —C. Boyden Gray, former Chief Counsel to the President of the United States

Author Biography

Ivan Eland is senior fellow and director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at The Independent Institute. His articles have appeared in such publications as the Chicago Sun-Times, Newsday, and USA Today, and he has appeared on the BBC, CNN, Radio Free Europe, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, and World News Tonight. He is the author of The Efficacy of Economic Sanctions as a Foreign Policy Tool.