--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: American Empire- it is an empire that…" description: "\"American Empire- it is an empire that lacks the drive to export its capital, its people and its culture to those backward regions which need them most ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/niall-ferguson-3627_american-empire_american-empire-it-is-an-empire-that-lac_3184470.png" --- # American Empire- it is an empire that lacks the drive to… ![“American Empire- it is an empire that lacks the drive to export its capital, its people and its culture to those backward regions which need them most urgently and which, if they are neglected, will breed the greatest threats to its security. It is an empire, in short, that dare not speak its…” quote by Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/niall-ferguson-3627_american-empire_american-empire-it-is-an-empire-that-lac_3184470.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/niall-ferguson-3627_american-empire_american-empire-it-is-an-empire-that-lac_3184470.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/niall-ferguson-3627_american-empire_american-empire-it-is-an-empire-that-lac_3184470.png) > “American Empire- it is an empire that lacks the drive to export its capital, its people and its culture to those backward regions which need them most urgently and which, if they are neglected, will breed the greatest threats to its security. It is an empire, in short, that dare not speak its name. It is an empire in denial.” [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An empire that fails to export its resources and culture becomes insecure and self‑denying. **In simple terms:** Lack of export harms empire security. Key Takeaway Export culture and capital. Themes imperialism security denial Mood analytical critical Type historical political When to use this quote - policy planning - foreign aid - cultural exchange Key Concepts geopolitics soft power national identity Questions to Reflect On - Should empires hide their identity? - What are the risks of cultural denial? A Different Perspective Ignoring soft power weakens influence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-empire/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Cybersecurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybersecurity/) [Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dare/) [Denial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/denial/) [Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire/) [Empire Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire-empire-2594781/) [Empire Lacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire-lacks-5848676/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Neglected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/security/) [Security Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/security-empire-5848677/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Threat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat/) ## Related quotes > [We better rethink the position of the United States in the world and whether we want to be an empire. Being an empire puts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/we-better-rethink-the-position-of-the-united-states-in-the-world-and/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them or degrade them, and the empire is no more. Empire follows art and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-foundation-of-empire-is-art-and-science-remove-them-or-degrade/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The United States is now The Empire. There isn't an empire; there's The Empire, and that empire is the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ali/the-united-states-is-now-the-empire-there-isn-t-an-empire-there-s-the/) [Tariq Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ali/) > [Basically, what Economic Hit Men are trained to do is to build up the American empire. To create situations where as many resources as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-perkins/basically-what-economic-hit-men-are-trained-to-do-is-to-build-up-the/) [John Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-perkins/) > [The American empire will not disappear... because America does not have an empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mandelbaum/the-american-empire-will-not-disappear-because-america-does-not-have/) [Michael Mandelbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mandelbaum/) > [Once you run current-account deficits, you depend on the kindness of strangers. This might be the beginning of the end of the American empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouriel-roubini/once-you-run-current-account-deficits-you-depend-on-the-kindness-of/) [Nouriel Roubini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouriel-roubini/) > [The American empire is hovering between life and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsen-rezaee/the-american-empire-is-hovering-between-life-and-death/) [Mohsen Rezaee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsen-rezaee/) > [The American empire should be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-dugin/the-american-empire-should-be-destroyed/) [Aleksandr Dugin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-dugin/) > [Judge candidly what a wretched figure the American empire will exhibit in the eye of other nations, without a power to array and support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-ellsworth/judge-candidly-what-a-wretched-figure-the-american-empire-will/) [Oliver Ellsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-ellsworth/) > [Americans need to understand that they have lost their country. The rest of the world needs to recognize that Washington is not merely the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-craig-roberts/americans-need-to-understand-that-they-have-lost-their-country-the/) [Paul Craig Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-craig-roberts/) > [The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-fabric-of-american-empire-ought-to-rest-on-the-solid-basis-of-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [New England is a finished place. Its destiny is that of Florence or Venice, not Milan while the American empire careens onward toward its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/new-england-is-a-finished-place-its-destiny-is-that-of-florence-or/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/i-hereby-accuse-the-north-american-empire-of-being-the-biggest-menace/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/as-chomsky-says-here-clearly-and-in-depth-the-american-empire-is/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [The Soviet Union and something called communism per se had not been the object of Washington's global attacks. There had never been an International…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blum/the-soviet-union-and-something-called-communism-per-se-had-not-been/) [William Blum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blum/) ## More by Niall Ferguson > [“I wrote this book because I had formed a strong impression that the people currently living were paying insufficient attention to the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-wrote-this-book-because-i-had-formed-a-strong-impression-that-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Consider this: the US economy created 2.4 million jobs in the three years beginning in June 2009. In the same period, 3.3 million Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/consider-this-the-us-economy-created-2-4-million-jobs-in-the-three/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-the-rise-of-quantitative-econometrics-and-a-highly/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Is it better today to be in a network, which gives you influence, than in a hierarchy, which gives you power?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/is-it-better-today-to-be-in-a-network-which-gives-you-influence-than/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [As a teacher, my strategy is to encourage questioning. I'm the least authoritarian professor you'll ever meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/as-a-teacher-my-strategy-is-to-encourage-questioning-i-m-the-least/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [Ask me not, 'Are you rightwing,' but ask me 'Are you a committed believer in individual freedom, the values of the enlightenment?' Then, yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/ask-me-not-are-you-rightwing-but-ask-me-are-you-a-committed-believer/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Many historians still tend to assume that the spread of an idea or an ideology is a function of its inherent content in relation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/many-historians-still-tend-to-assume-that-the-spread-of-an-idea-or-an/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“the twentieth century ran a series of experiments, imposing quite different institutions on two sets of Germans (in West and East), two sets of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-twentieth-century-ran-a-series-of-experiments-imposing-quite/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Historians are not scientists. They cannot (and should not even trying to) establish universal laws of social or political "physics" with reliable predictive powers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/historians-are-not-scientists-they-cannot-and-should-not-even-trying/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“One difficulty is that we cannot always reconstruct the past thoughts of these non-Western peoples, for not all of them existed in civilizations with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/one-difficulty-is-that-we-cannot-always-reconstruct-the-past-thoughts/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [If young men have jobs - or the prospects of jobs - they are less likely to take up arms, they are less likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/if-young-men-have-jobs-or-the-prospects-of-jobs-they-are-less-likely/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think that it is important to be gregarious, and that friendships are not just a leisure pursuit, that they are an integral part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-that-it-is-important-to-be-gregarious-and-that-friendships/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“The question was simply this: Would the world be French or British?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-question-was-simply-this-would-the-world-be-french-or-british/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“it is not ‘Eurocentrism’ or (anti-)‘Orientalism’ to say that the rise of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/it-is-not-eurocentrism-or-anti-orientalism-to-say-that-the-rise-of/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) [Explore all 124 Niall Ferguson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) ## More American empire quotes > [Basically, what Economic Hit Men are trained to do is to build up the American empire. To create situations where as many resources as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-perkins/basically-what-economic-hit-men-are-trained-to-do-is-to-build-up-the/) [John Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-perkins/) > [The Soviet Union and something called communism per se had not been the object of Washington's global attacks. There had never been an International…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blum/the-soviet-union-and-something-called-communism-per-se-had-not-been/) [William Blum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blum/) > [The American empire should be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-dugin/the-american-empire-should-be-destroyed/) [Aleksandr Dugin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-dugin/) > [As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/as-chomsky-says-here-clearly-and-in-depth-the-american-empire-is/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-chavez/i-hereby-accuse-the-north-american-empire-of-being-the-biggest-menace/) [Hugo Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-chavez/) > [Americans need to understand that they have lost their country. The rest of the world needs to recognize that Washington is not merely the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-craig-roberts/americans-need-to-understand-that-they-have-lost-their-country-the/) [Paul Craig Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-craig-roberts/) > [The American empire is hovering between life and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsen-rezaee/the-american-empire-is-hovering-between-life-and-death/) [Mohsen Rezaee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsen-rezaee/) > [Once you run current-account deficits, you depend on the kindness of strangers. This might be the beginning of the end of the American empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouriel-roubini/once-you-run-current-account-deficits-you-depend-on-the-kindness-of/) [Nouriel Roubini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouriel-roubini/) > [The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-fabric-of-american-empire-ought-to-rest-on-the-solid-basis-of-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [New England is a finished place. Its destiny is that of Florence or Venice, not Milan while the American empire careens onward toward its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/new-england-is-a-finished-place-its-destiny-is-that-of-florence-or/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [“For Obama, however, it is good for America to have less influence. In tune with his progressive and anti-colonial ideology, Obama regards the American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/for-obama-however-it-is-good-for-america-to-have-less-influence-in/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) > [I don't like the triumphalism of the American narrative, this kind of "chosen people" complex that American people have, so it's inspiring to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-svenonius/i-don-t-like-the-triumphalism-of-the-american-narrative-this-kind-of/) [Ian Svenonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-svenonius/) > [The American empire will not disappear... because America does not have an empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mandelbaum/the-american-empire-will-not-disappear-because-america-does-not-have/) [Michael Mandelbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mandelbaum/) > [America cannot have an empire abroad and a Republic at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/america-cannot-have-an-empire-abroad-and-a-republic-at-home/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The Roman Empire came to an end, but the Roman people didn't come to an end, so I see the American Empire coming to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-roman-empire-came-to-an-end-but-the-roman-people-didn-t-come-to/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Browse all 26 American empire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-empire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "American Empire- it is an empire that lacks the drive to export its capital, its people and its culture to those backward regions which need them most urgently and which, if they are neglected, will breed the greatest threats to its security. 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