The Empire Strikes a Match in a World Full of Oil

"The Empire Strikes a Match in a World Full of Oil is a book about justice and about history. The history is a history of American expansionism which has evolved into a plan for world domination, seemingly a plan to make the world safe for American democracy. The plan isn't new. Nearly fifty years ago our text book on American history, taught at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown U. by a close Kennedy advisor, was entitled Empire for Liberty. Before we proceed further however we, as Americans, need to ask 'at what price?' The price is too high, because unlike successful empires that dominate and exploit their backward neighbors, America shares world power with other nations. Even though we tower over any one of them, we cannot dominate them all. This book concludes by defining the choice America faces at this moment -- the choice between endless war against large and growing powers on the one hand and a world that has submitted to the rule of law on the other. But it is not an appeal to world government either; not a call for another layer of administration and invasive rules. It is an appeal for a world legal system in which free nations freely interact."