American Imperialism

The rise of the Untied States in the 20th century as the world’s leading superpower is because they followed a foreign policy of imperialism, which furthered their economic expansion throughout the world. When studying imperialism many people think of imperialism as the well-known traditional British imperialism in Africa. However, William Appleman Williams argues in his book, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, that the U.S. formed a new type of imperialism in the 20th century, which was unique to that of traditional British imperialism. This new type of imperialism that U.S. used in the 20th century can be defined by Brian Crozier as neo-colonialism, which is that indirect control of a country through economic, diplomatic, or military mean
In this essay, I will argue against Williams idea of how U.S. foreign policy during the 20th century was unique because I will examine Canada’s foreign policy to that of the United States’ and compare how they used similar foreign policies of neo-colonialism through economic, diplomatic, and military means to further their economic expansion of the world. The similarities of Canadian and American neo-colonial foreign policy to further their economic expansion of the world can be seen through the Open Door Policy, military means in Latin America, missionary diplomacy to promote democracy, the Good Neighbour Policy, and containment policies. The first example of the United States’ foreign policy of neo-colonialism can be seen in the Spanish- American war of 1998. Williams argues that the Spanish-American war was fought to gain a foothold in the Pacific in order to preserve the Open Door Policy. John Hay created the Open Door Policy in 1899, which was designed to allow every country to have an equal trading basis with China and keep any country from dominating the Chinese sphere of influence. The Open Door Policy would be the cornerstone of American foreign policy for the next 50 years because it was important for America to secure and preserve access to China for economic
Canada has similar neo-colonial foreign policy to that of the U.S. because they have used economic policies like NAFTA in Mexico that is similar to the Open Door Policy in China. In Yves Engler’s book, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, he argues Canada entered free trade agreements because they wanted to establish strong investments in foreign countries like mining, natural resources, financial services, and agriculture. Chapter 11 in NAFTA limits a series of measures governments have traditionally used to protect local industry against dominant foreign competition such as rules technology transfer requirements, collaborating with local companies, and to treat the investors of another signatory country no less favourably then its own investors. The foreign policy of Chapter 11 in NAFTA is interesting because it shows how Canada is using economic policy to limit foreign competition from other countries so it can dominate countries like Mexico. Chapter 11 in NAFTA that states countries must treat investors of another signatory country no less favourably then its own investors, is an economic policy that guarantees Canada equal treatment of any country