Globalization: Not a Quest for Empire

Prompt: Why are We at War

After reading Normal Mailer’s book “Why Are We at War”, the point that I ponder the most is Mailer’s repeated statements about George Bush’s quest for empire. While Mailer goes on to make many good points that I agree with throughout the book, I don’t see how someone could justify the current war in Iraq as America’s quest for a global empire. I disagree with Mailer in regard to America’s so-called quest for a global empire

Our nation’s initial plan for war was to discover and remove weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East. After the weapons of mass destruction were not found, I agree with Mailer that Bush needed to point the finger elsewhere and apparently the most logical place to turn was Iraq. Even after turning to focus the war on Iraq, I believe Bush had good intentions, but the war we are currently fighting is like no other war we have ever been apart of. Bush stated that “Our current war with terror does not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.” This is a noble idea, but an idea that I do not think is possible. Terrorist groups will always exist and we can never eliminate all of them. That is why this war is unlike any other, there is no clear cut measure of victory.

With this being said I find it difficult to consider our current war as a quest for global empire. How is attempting to eliminate terrorist groups a quest for a global empire? Why would Bush desire to establish a global empire when he has a limited term as president? If America is trying to take over the world why would we start in the Middle East? Why would Bush attempt such conquest when the next president will most likely have a very different opinion and way of doing things than him?

I believe that Mailer is confusing globalization in general with America’s attempt to take over the world. Other countries are influencing American society just as we our influencing theirs. Just because we have a greater influence does not mean we are trying to rule the world.