Pax Americana

Pax Americana is Latin for "the American peace".

Critics of the United States use the expression to describe the period of relative peace in the western world since World War II, while at the same time the USA has fought several wars against countries that do not accept their hegemony (so called "rogue states"). By doing so, they are drawing an analogy to Pax Romana, implying that USA is a modern-day Roman Empire.

Americans who support their government's foreign policy do not consider it to be imperialist, and argue that their country has a long history of isolationism. However, many people believe that the United States has found itself forced into a quasi-imperialist role by its status as the world's sole superpower.

American supporters of US foreign policy in general regard their interventions as forced on them by moral necessity or self-defense, and characterize criticism as Anti-Americanism. They often see world affairs in moral terms, with "good guys" (themselves) who need not apologize for their morally justified actions, and "bad guys" (those who disagree with them), rather than in terms of realpolitik and moral equivalence. It is this view that the US can do no wrong that causes many critics to view the United States as arrogant and disrespectful of the the rule of international law.

See also:

• British Empire, white man's burden, Bush Doctrine