Is the U.S. 'empire' beginning to show cracks?
Get the full intelligence
Search transcripts, export clips, track mentions, and explore all topics from “Is the U.S. 'empire' beginning to show cracks?” inside PodZeus.
In this episode of Code Switch, host Gene Demby explores the often-ignored reality of the United States as a global empire, challenging the common American belief that the nation is somehow exempt from imperial history. Drawing on historian Daniel Imarvar’s book *How to Hide an Empire*, the conversation unpacks how the U.S. has maintained colonies and territories—such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Hawaii—throughout its history, often erasing or downplaying these relationships in mainstream narratives. The episode highlights how the U.S. has long avoided using the word 'colony' and instead frames its overseas holdings as 'territories' or 'possessions,' reflecting a deliberate effort to distance itself from the imperial label. The discussion deepens with reflections on the geopolitical consequences of U.S. military bases around the world, from Japan to the Middle East, and how these installations generate both economic booms and deep resentment. The show also examines how Donald Trump’s foreign policy—marked by unilateralism, threats, and a rejection of global stewardship—may not be sustaining the empire but rather accelerating its unraveling by dismantling the careful, multilateral restraint that previous administrations exercised. The episode concludes with a speculative but hopeful vision: a world without U.S. hegemony could lead not to chaos, but to a more balanced, multilateral global order. Key takeaways include: 1) The U.S. has long operated as an empire, with millions of overseas subjects who cannot vote in U.S. elections; 2) The refusal to acknowledge this history has led to systemic invisibility and under-resourcing of territories like Puerto Rico; 3) Military bases abroad are not neutral—they create unequal power dynamics and fuel anti-American sentiment; 4) Trump’s foreign policy may be destabilizing the empire not by expanding it, but by removing the restraints that once prevented reckless action; and 5) The decline of U.S. hegemony could open space for a more democratic, multipolar world order.
The United States has long operated as an empire, with overseas territories and millions of non-voting subjects, despite public denial of this reality.
The U.S. avoids using the term 'colony' to maintain a national identity distinct from European empires, leading to historical erasure of colonized populations.
U.S. military bases abroad create unequal power dynamics, fuel resentment, and often lead to diplomatic tensions and local exploitation.
Trump’s foreign policy may be dismantling the empire by abandoning the careful, multilateral restraint of past administrations.
The decline of U.S. hegemony could lead to a more balanced, multilateral global order rather than chaos or authoritarianism.
The Unspoken Empire
The episode opens with a reflection on a conference where Pacific Islanders questioned their inclusion in AAPI gatherings, sparking a broader conversation about the U.S. as a colonial power and the erasure of its imperial history.
The Hidden History of U.S. Colonization
Gene introduces historian Daniel Imarvar and his book *How to Hide an Empire*, which reveals how the U.S. has maintained colonies in the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico, often under the radar of mainstream history.
The Myth of American Exceptionalism
Imarvar explains how the U.S. consciously rejected the imperial label, unlike Britain, and how this denial has led to the invisibility of colonized peoples in American historical consciousness.
The Scale of U.S. Empire
“At the time that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Japan, like its infamous Axis partners, struck first and declared war afterwards. Hawaii was a U.S. territory at the time, so were the Philippines and Guam and the Wake Islands. What gets left out and what we don't learn is that at the same time that Pearl Harbor was being attacked, Japan also bombed U.S. bases on all of those Pacific islands. And this is a detail that kind of blows my mind a little bit, y'all. But like Daniel says that at that specific moment in U.S. history, there were more colonial subjects of the United States elsewhere in the world than there were black Americans in the United States.”
Military Bases and Global Tensions
The episode examines the global network of U.S. military bases, their economic and cultural impact on host nations, and how they provoke resentment—especially in places like Saudi Arabia and Japan.
“At the time that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Japan, like its infamous Axis partners, struck first and declared war afterwards. Hawaii was a U.S. territory at the time, so were the Philippines and Guam and the Wake Islands. What gets left out and what we don't learn is that at the same time that Pearl Harbor was being attacked, Japan also bombed U.S. bases on all of those Pacific islands. And this is a detail that kind of blows my mind a little bit, y'all. But like Daniel says that at that specific moment in U.S. history, there were more colonial subjects of the United States elsewhere in the world than there were black Americans in the United States.”
“I see him more as cannibalizing the empire than maintaining the empire. Say more about that. Yeah. So like US presidents have been nervous about Iran, quite nervous about Iran for decades. And we know now that they have privately talked about military strikes of this scale on Iran and they've always held back. You ask, okay, well why? And we also know the answer to that. The reason they've held back isn't out of humanitarian concern for the Iranian people or love of Iran. It's largely because they have a set of distributed interests around the Middle East and they're like, okay, we could bomb Iran. We certainly have the military capacity to do that but you know, if we did that and might shut down the Strait of Hormuz, you know, if the Iranian government collapses, there'd be a refugee crisis. Iran might counterattack the Gulf states. Like there's all kinds of things that happen which we're finding out. Yeah, which is all these things are happening. Right, when you attack Iran. And so it's not a lack of like ambition on the part of other presidents. It's more that they just have like a broader sense of the chessboard.”
“The United States has always been, just in the strictest sense, an empire. And I don't even mean that as a moral charge. Often when we say that, we mean like... Oh, the United States. It's so naughty. It is an empire. You know, and like Star Wars is about like fighting galactic empires and all that. Look, I'm no fan of imperialism as a form of government, but I think we actually just need to be more okay admitting that the United States has and continues to be in many ways, like just in the technical sense, an empire.”
Host
Guest
Daniel Imarvar
person
Gene Demby
person
Donald Trump
person
Iran
place
Philippines
place
Hawaii
place
Code Switch
media
Puerto Rico
place
Guam
place
Pearl Harbor
other
'Mar-a-Lago face:' MAGA's aesthetic loyalty test
Code Switch • 27m • 4/1/2026
From the Confederacy to the White House: How Southern beauty traditions went MAGA
Code Switch • 19m • 4/4/2026
As the definition of “terrorist” expands, so does state violence
Code Switch • 28m • 4/8/2026
How your vote became your identity
Code Switch • 31m • 4/11/2026
Gaza commanded our attention. Why hasn't Sudan?
Code Switch • 36m • 4/15/2026
Get the full intelligence
Search transcripts, export clips, track mentions, and explore all topics from “Is the U.S. 'empire' beginning to show cracks?” inside PodZeus.
Start discovering podcast insights today
Start with a 7-day trial and explore a growing catalog of popular podcasts. No credit card required.
No credit card required • 7-day trial • Cancel anytime