Nowadays, with America getting involved all over the world in foreign entanglements, it could be said that this must be the natural order of things -- of which such is commonly known by society as being an empire. Yet, it really doesn’t have to be that way and upon the founding of this independent republic, the United States of America really was wholly independent, and made it public policy to be that way. It would be well to remember, that European nations upon the inception of the United States, had been warring one with another, for centuries, and would continue to do so for decades afterwards. That fact, that European nations were forever battling against one another, was beneficial for our American revolution, for France and Great Britain were clearly on opposite sides, which is why France came to our aid, for “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Soon thereafter, France suffered through its own bloody revolution, and thereupon with Napoleon coming to power, France along with its allies, soon thereof, sought to expand its domain, and was inevitably met by Great Britain with its allies, so creating a battle royale, one against the other. No doubt, France as well as Great Britain, could have utilized the resources of America on behalf of their respective goals and desires, but America refused to be dragged into this European conflict and thereby remained neutral and disentangled; content instead to concentrate upon the making of America to be a great nation, in its own right.
To this wise philosophy, America continued to be true, until that time, that it got pulled into World War I, which was thereby subsequently followed by World War II. Upon the conclusion of World War II, America had a fundamental decision to make, as to whether to claim the European mantle and thereby to take those additional incumbent actions to become an empire, or whether to leave such alone; and like President Washington, at the height of his powers, simply retire to its own domain, and thereby to be relieved of the potential troubles, difficulties, and peculiarities of the burden of international dynastic power.
History tells us, that America decided to become an empire, and further not to just have entanglements in European affairs, but rather to have entanglements all over the entire globe. No doubt, some people see this as a good thing, but whether it is good or not, is superseded by the fact that the intent of those founding this nation and of its Constitution, was for America to be a land of domestic tranquility, to promote the general welfare of its people, and to secure the blessings of liberty for them. Instead, America is stuck in all sorts of nasty foreign affairs, and thereby has created enemies and resentments all over the world, thereby impugning its image as a nation of liberty and freedom, by replacing such with the image of a greedy and unjust world domination oppressor.
Those that insist upon sticking their noses into other people’s affairs, and then to act upon such as per their wont, are prone to suffer the blowback of those people that resent being told what to do, how to behave, as well as not appreciating being schooled by a bully. In foreign affairs, not every door needs to be opened, not every battle enjoined, and all those that still decide to venture in, are those that soon become so entangled that they do not know how to properly extricate themselves from the trouble that they have bought themselves into, but can’t seem to ever un-buy themselves from.