Imperial Overstretch George W. Bush and the Hubris of Empire

Burbach and Tarbell argue that George W. Bush has fundamentally changed America's place in the world--for the worse. Hijacked by neoconservatives and the petro-military complex, the nation that once broke from an empire is swiftly becoming an empire itself. Fed by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; a never-ending fear of terrorism; mushrooming defense expenditures; and the slow but steady erosion of civil liberties on the home front, is this empire in danger of becoming too large to survive? What are the costs--in lives at home and abroad--of failure? Who is driving these policies? And--most important of all--can Americans change direction and restore America's reputation in the world as the shining "city on the hill"?

Roger Burbach is Director of Research and Publication at the Center for the Study of the Americas (CENSA) in Berkeley, California. Jim Tarbell is a freelance writer and broadcaster based in California.