.
Such expansion as an aim is an inalienable right and in the case of the
United States it is a particular duty, because we are idealists and are
therefore bound by establishing protectorates over the weak to protect
them from unmoral Kultur."[2]

It is not given to all imperialists to present their case with so naive
a self-deception. Not all would argue that it is our duty "to get
richer and richer by ... armed conquest" to avert the "unmoral Kultur"
of some other nation which also desires to get richer and richer. Yet
in many other forms our imperialistic drift appears. Voices call upon
us to perform deeds of blood and valour, which bring national renown.
Ardent prophecies reveal that we shall become the first maritime power
of the world and that we "are born to rule seas, as the Romans were to
conquer the world." But in the main American imperialistic sentiment
is not vocal. It manifests itself in a vague determination to push
American "interests" everywhere; to control Mexico and the Caribbean
countries, to exert an increasing influence in South America, to be a
decisive factor in China's exploitation. Just how all these ambitions
are to conflict with those of other imperialistic nations, our
imperialists have not yet determined. Let us be strong enough in our
own might and in our alliances and we can take what we want and find
excellent reasons for the taking.

Such a policy is not less dangerous because inchoate and undirected.
It is all the more dangerous on that account. Without thoroughly
understanding the World into which they inject their undefined
ambitions, our imperialists have not advanced far beyond a mental
attitude. They are {155} anxious to conquer and rule, to exert
economic, financial and military dominion, but their future domains are
not yet surveyed.

This new spirit has been strengthened by the passing of our isolation.
Since we cannot hold aloof, our imperialists believe that we must do as
other nations do, seize our fortune at any risk. We must repudiate
"our idealistic past," cease to be a dilettante in international
relationships, take our share of the burden and get our share of the
profits in the scrimmage which we call nationalistic imperialism. If
we cannot live by ourselves, let us live as do other aggressive nations.

In the future this new imperialism may drift in one of two directions.
We may build up an American Empire, a (probably plutocratic) Republic
with outlyin