Page 197 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

82 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Further Reading and restrict colonial sovereignty, U.S. officials and busi-
Arberry, A. J. (Trans.). (1950). The spiritual physick of Rhazes. London: nesspeople created an empire that was principally com-
John Murray.
Iskandar, A. Z. (1975). The medical bibliography of al-Razi. In G. mercial, based on free trade and massive overseas
Hourani (Ed.), Essays on Islamic philosophy and science (pp. 41–46). investment.After that empire was established, the United
Albany: State University of New York Press. States had overwhelming influence and wealth and was
Iskandar, A. Z. (1990). al-Razi. In M. J. L.Young, J. D. Latham, & R. B.
Serjeant (Eds.), Religion, learning, and science in the Abbasid period able to control affairs in associated countries with great
(pp. 370–377). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. efficiency for the most part. So, without the formal
Meyerhof, M. (1935). Thirty-three clinical observations by Rhazes. Isis, trappings—and much of the political baggage—of impe-
23, 321–356.
Nasr, S. H. (1981). Islamic life and thought. Albany: State University of rialism, the United States enjoyed the greatest benefits of
New York Press. empire throughout much of the twentieth century.
Qadir, C.A. (1988). Philosophy and science in the Islamic world. London:
Croom Helm.
Stroumsa, S. (1999). Free thinkers of medieval Islam: Ibn al-Rawandi, Abu Blueprint for the Empire
Bakr al-Razi and their impact on Islamic thought. Leiden, Netherlands: One can observe the foundations of empire from the out-
Brill.
Ullman, M. (1978). Islamic medicine. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh Uni- set of the U.S. republic.When seeking autonomy from the
versity Press. British empire during the late 1700s, U.S. leaders devised
Walzer, R. (1962). Greek into Arabic: Essays on Islamic philosophy. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press. a program for global influence, with John Adams even
writing a “model treaty” for prospective alliances with the
established powers of Europe that would have given the
new country equal commercial footing with them based
on the concepts of free trade and “most favored nation”
American Empire trading rights.

Adams’s vision would have to wait, but others devel-
eople often have difficulty discussing the “American oped the imperial program further. After U.S. independ-
Pempire” because the global reach of the United States ence, U.S. leaders such as Alexander Hamilton recog-
differs from that of traditional empires and because peo- nized that economic power, especially via industrial
ple generally believe that the United States has not been development, could lead to world power. Consequently,
an imperial power. during much of the nineteenth century, the U.S. govern-
The American empire, however, is real, with historical ment pursued a program of industrialization, with pro-
roots in the founding of the republic during the eigh- tective tariffs, government grants, tax incentives, and sub-
teenth century, evolution during the nineteenth century, sidies to promote industrial and international growth.
and maturation during the early twentieth century. By the The global interests of the United States at the time
latter years of the twentieth century, especially resulting were still limited, subordinate to the need to develop the
from the impact of two world wars, the United States economy at home. However, by midcentury one could see
possessed more power and had more global political and the United States stepping out into the world, taking land
economic interests than any empire in the modern era. by force or purchase in Oregon,Texas, California,Alaska,
U.S. imperialism developed in a markedly different and elsewhere and envisioning a Caribbean empire in
way than that of traditional European empires. Rather Cuba, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua, and other places;
than invade countries with large armies, send in agents deploying gunships to Japan to demand open markets;
of occupation, maintain political and economic control creating bonds with British financiers to pay for the Civil
through institutions it created and staffed with officials War; and sending missionaries and businesspeople to for-
from the mother country and local collaborative elites, eign lands to expand U.S. interests all over the world.