When Napoleon conquered Europe, he did not only introduce the Napoleonic Code and inspire local nationalisms. He also imposed a severe form of political-economic relationships. From each state he subdued, he demanded outright large sums of treasure. There was a massive influx of foreign wealth into the treasury of France and the personal accounts of Napoleon, his siblings, and his bureaucrats and generals. This is empire. His empire faltered not only on the battlefield, but also because he drained the wealth of his conquests and could no longer finance his campaigns.

I use to subscribe to the theory of the United States as an empire in itself. But the events since 2008 have altered my views. I think the 'empire' can more accurately be described as a global financial empire, with a number of extremely wealthy individuals, families, and corporations at the top. What is an empire? An empire is a system of political control that enables the appropriation of one sub-systems wealth for the benefit of another, dominating sub-system. Historically, this was accomplished through the conquest of nations and states by other nations and states, with the wealth simply pillaged from the villages and treasuries. There is a long, obvious list of this process occurring around the world throughout history, with the Soviet Union in my view as the last "great" empire in this traditional sense. Now, the virtual elimination of financial controls and accountability enabled by the digitization of wealth and finance allows empire to evolve from an object to a process.

What is the role of the United States in this system? The weight of America's economic, political, and military power was used to force open the international system. This was not always the role of the US, since this agenda competed with other moral, political, economic, and security interests. I would place the start of financial primacy somewhere in the late 1970s or early 1980s, with its full power revealed in the first decade of the 20th century. But what is the future of the US central role in this process now that it's fragility has been exposed to the world? The deindustrialization was the first stage in this process, followed by its de-financialization, which has culminated in the situation we are facing now. Next, the material wealth of the US will be expropriated to pay off the public debts incurred in the first two stages. This is already occurring in Greece and Italy. The American people are paying for this process, and their wealth is ending up in the pockets of the global financial elite. This is the definition of empire.