America is now, and has historically been, imperialist.

=== CLARIFICATIONS === My opponent alleges that I have admitted that the US is an imperialist nation, which of course a distortion of the facts, as I went out of my way to clarify my meanings. She also alleges that "my opponent failed to follow the rules put forward in Round 1 and resorted to ad-hominem before the debate even began." p1. I assume this is in reference to an supposed overuse of semantics, however, my opponent herself stated that Round 1 was designed specifically for establishing rules and clarifications. This, I suspect, was a way to stack all the chips in her favor, and when anyone offers their own thesis or sought to clarify, it's immediately shot down as "semantics." I will allow the jury to make their own decision. p2. My opponent alleges that I resorted to ad hominem but completely neglects to substantiate said ad hominem. Since I consistently argued the position, not the person, I trust the reader will clearly see no such behavior on my part. === RESPONDING TO THE RESPONSES === My opponent begins by admitting that anti-imperialism has always been a strong movement in the U.S., but then shifts the goal posts. As I stated in Round 1, imperialism is subjective. The fact that per the definition she provided, every country in all periods of time fits nicely within that category, cannot be overlooked for the same reason that one could erroneously draw false parallels. Because it so over-generalized, it is therefore incumbent upon both she and I to come up with a workable definition that doesn't constitute "semantics." === HISTORICAL CONTEXT === PRO brings up several instances of what she considers imperialistic but neglects the point that warfare is not synonymous with imperialism, lest one nation need to always acquiesce to the other in total pacifism to be classified as a non-imperialist nation. My opponent even sources a list of legal purchases between the United States and other nations, where they were compensated for the land. By her loose definition, any private entity seeking to own any land at all is thereby imperialist. The Louisiana Purchase [1], the Gadsden Purchase [2], the Alaska Purchase [3], Puerto Rico and Guam purchase, etc are all instances where compensation was given to the former owners. This is in direct contrast with the "spoils of war" which were notoriously characterized by the Mongolian invasions of Eurasian countries, the Grecian empire, the Roman empire, the Nazi-German empire, the Yuan empire, the British empire, the Ming empire, the Ottoman empire, the Macedonian empire, etc, etc, which took land that knowingly was not theirs through force and violence [4]. America does not even register, except in terms of generating more revenue than any other empire in human history. === MODERN IMPERIALISM CHARGE === PRO claims that intervention is tantamount to imperialism. Curiously, though, all the instances where the United States intervened for the purpose of rendering aid was off the list. FACT: The two largest contributors of aid in the human history are: 1. Private donations given by the citizens of the United States. 2. The United States government. [5] [6] Resoundingly, unflinchingly, and unanimously the United States, both government and citizen, are the most generous in human history. What this is evidence of, like I clearly distinguished in Round 1, is instances of American interventionist policies, not imperialism. Given the amount of wars and conflicts in American history, no land was ever stolen, no country ever lost their heritage, no country was displaced, America never acquired the land and called it "America," etc. 1. Haitian Rebellion (2004) 2. Liberian Civil War (2003) 3. Iraq War (2003) 4. Afghanistan War (2001) 5. Kosovo Conflict (1999) 6. Bosnian War (1992) 7. Somalian Conflict (1992) 8. Gulf War (1990) 9. Operation Just Cause (1989) 10. Operation Urgent Fury (1983) 11. Vietnam War (1964) 12. Korean War (1950) [7] So on and so forth. The heart of America, since its inception, was to escape from imperialistic dictatorships and to be the bastion of hope for those seeking to escape hegemony. I look forward to this third and final debate. === SOURCES === 1. http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. http://en.wikipedia.org... 3. http://en.wikipedia.org... 4. http://en.wikipedia.org... 5. http://www.usatoday.com... 6. http://www.associatedcontent.com... 7. http://en.wikipedia.org...