America is now, and has historically been, imperialist.

=== CLARIFICATIONS === PRO's entire argument hinges upon something that she alleges is grounds for forfeiture throughout the last two rounds. Her whole argument has relied on the extreme broadness of what she has defined as imperialism. I have stated that the definition provided could be applied to every nation in human history, which makes questioning America's imperialism or non-imperialism a moot point because it is a tautology [1]. It is now documented on two separate occasions that I challenged the legitimacy of the quote she used because it was so broad that any nation could be swept under that category. PRO refused the request. Since PRO insisted that Round 1 was for the purposes clarification, she ends up violating her own premise. Secondly, PRO asserts that I inadvertently admit that America is imperialist by conceding the point that America is interventionist. Apparently intervening is synonymous with imperialism in PRO's mind, which, again, highlights how her argument has relied on a tautology and semantics. Let us compare and contrast. Interventionism: "the policy or doctrine of intervening, esp. government interference in the affairs of another state or in domestic economic affairs. " [2] Imperialism: "the policy of so uniting the separate parts of an empire with separate governments as to secure for certain purposes a single state. " [3] As we can read, not only are the two not synonyms, but this definition of imperialism is not a quality that has ever been enforced by the Untied States. The characteristics described is one of the Roman Empire or Alexander the Great's conquests. Expanding it's territories and establishing provinces under the control of Greece or Rome is the illustration offered, not merely an "attempt to influence," as all nations attempt to influence another. That's how diplomacy works. === CON's COUNTER-ARGUMENTS === 1. Again, PRO hides behind a vague definition. This is what I meant in Round 1 about stacking the deck. She asks for Round 1 to be for establishing rules and seeking clarifications, but when that very thing is done, she ignores it and gives a tautological response. 2. PRO asserts that "Purchased territory should not count" which is more of PRO attempting to narrow the debate like a funnel in her favor. PRO claims no distinction is made between purchasing land versus a massacre and the taking of land. This, of course, is an absurdity because then anyone who buys land has, by her extremely loose definition, shown imperialistic tendencies. In essence, she doesn't offer qualifiers. 3. PRO is right to say that warfare and imperialism go hand-in-hand, but as I pointed out, warfare is not synonymous with imperialism. In fact, I provided a laundry list of wars fought by the United States where no land was ever taken, no culture ever lost their cultural identity, no culture now calls itself "the United States. " The Vietnamese are still Vietnamese, Germans still German, Japanese still Japanese, Afghans are still Afghans, and Iraqi's are still Iraqi's. That PRO ignores every instance of supposed American occupation that could not, whatsoever, be categorized as imperialism via the acquisition of stolen land, makes the case for me. 4. PRO postulates that American generosity is something to scoff at, as if Genghis Kkan, a true imperialist, would have ever behaved in such a manner. This argument just illustrates PRO's tendency to manipulate the debate so that all points align with her broad, over-generalized thesis. She managed to make for America a case of damned-if-I-do, damned-if-I-don't. If America dominates by force, it's imperialism. If they help other people, it's imperialism. If America is indifferent, it's imperialism, so that no matter what America does in actuality, they will be in the wrong. It's more a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy offered by my detractor than it is an actuality. 5. PRO alleges that I ignored examples of hers. To the contrary, I am correcting her inaccuracies. For example, she alleges that land was "taken" from Mexico, yet the Gadsden Purchase and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo make it clear that this land was not "taken," but purchased, making PRO grossly inaccurate. These kind of misrepresentations and distortions of truth are precisely why misinformed people believe the declarations espoused by the likes of people who self-describe themselves as anti-imperialist. She also states that "the entire point of the military conflict was to exert control," as if a war is about anything else. Of course it's about exerting control, it's war! This is precisely what I mean. PRO hides behind a wall of a vague or over-generalized semantics. If we were to go by her definitions of imperialism, we would learn that a. getting any land makes you an imperialist b. if wars are fought for control, you're an imperialist. Of course, it is silly because owning a home would make you an imperialist, and the soldiers and sailors attempting to repel the Japanese invasion would also be considered imperialist. The premise doesn't follow. PRO states, "And, while not part of my opponent's real argument, I take issue with this false statement: "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. " She goes on to say that I provide no evidence that colonials left England to flee tyranny. She's right, I didn't provide any evidence of that because, quite simply, it's a well-known, well-documented, self evident fact. I assumed that history speaks for itself, where America fought for its independence from an imperialist monarchy. === CLOSING === The modern anti-imperialism movement is often nothing more than thinly disguised anti-Americanism that has been too commonly evoked. It has become a fashionable past-time to criticize those on the top of the food chain, without ever giving thought to the specifics. It is often typified by examples of strident hyperbole and a distortion of history to make it's case. It is rather amusing though that if the whole world has viewed America's policies as imperialist, that virtually every nation on earth uses the US Constitution as their template. It's ironic that the most oppressive nations, and dare I say "imperialist," on the planet are at odds with the United States. One would think that if America were every bit the bogeyman that PRO insinuates, it wouldn't have a friend in the world. And yet, America continues to be one of the most influential nation, even in spite of its faults. Pro's resolutions have been debunked and the slight-of-hand has been exposed and laid bare. For this reason you must vote CON! === SOURCES === 1. . http://dictionary.reference.com... 2. . http://dictionary.reference.com... 3. . http://dictionary.reference.com... 4. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 5. . http://en.wikipedia.org...