American empire: Allegations of torture and the challenge of human rights

This paper asks whether US empire-building leads to human rights abuses. The work systematically mines historical documents to understand historical phases of empire-building. Three previous imperial phases---the Spanish American War, the early stages of the Cold War, and the final fifteen years of the Cold War---are identified and shown to have four common attributes: social Darwinism, racism, liberal Protestantism, and nationalist liberalism. A discussion of each period shows how the motivations of empire historically trumped rights. The second section analyzes the War on Terrorism within the same framework. The War on Terrorism is shown to be an imperial project that mirrors past historical phases and that facilitates human rights abuses. Particular attention is paid to escalating allegations of US torture. The work suggests that the US must decide between the imperial project and the challenge of human rights and concludes with a normative discussion arguing for human rights.