The USA is an Imperialist Power

According to Dictionary.com, an empire is: "a group of nations or peoples ruled over by an emperor, empress, or other powerful sovereign or government: usually a territory of greater extent than a kingdom, as the former British Empire, French Empire, Russian Empire, Byzantine Empire, or Roman Empire."Obvoiusly, the US is not ruled by royalty of the conventional sort, so I've highlighted the parts of the definition that could appy the the US if Pro is correct.Pro's evidence:1. World markets are flooded with US goods.The US is mostly free market, so the companies selling the goods are not in any way part of the government. Microsoft's legions are not going to invade Gaul. People just want thier stuff. This has little to do with the government, other than for a long time, they stayed out of the way so businesses could grow. There are Canadian businesses that are well known and are serious competitors in the US: Nortel, Bombardier, RIM, etc, but most importanty, to have a branch in Canada, the branch must be a seperate company owned by a Canadian.2. US cultural influence is overwhelming in Canada.Canada and the US both started off as British colonies in the same region with similar population demographics and strong ties to English customs and common law. We share much trade and an enormous fairly open border with no military conflicts since the early 1800s and have nearly identical standards of living. Is it any doubt that the one with 10x the population would have more cultural influence?3. Canadian government is now operating in a similar way to the US'.The examples cited of Canada's PM moving toward US domestic policy do not line up with the assertion that Canada is under US political control. For years post-Cold War, the largely socialist Canadian government and public was critical of US military influence in many conflicts. They have also been more liberal toward MJ. But now that we have a far more socialist President, and have even started socialized medicine and legalized MJ in 37% of states, Canada seems to be tilting conservative. It's backwards from what Pro is saying.4. US foriegn policy leads to intervention in foreign affairs for economic or other strategic gain.We let Iraqis have control back over the oil fields. Congress passed a bill disallowing US companies from making agreements with Iraq for oil deals. Consider how many nations we've temporarily took over, then rebuilt. Which ones are still under US control? Consider after WWII and the Cold War how many nations we could control if we were really imperialists? 5. US companies control much of the natural resources of our most powerful rival, the PRC.I would like to see evidence of this.6. Virtually the entire world has adopted capitalist democracy and free market zeal.Not quite. Russia and China have, Canada is starting to go even more capitalist, but US is going in the opposite direction. Democracy is what got Russia Putin, who is taking it as far as he can away from democracy, and China just wants it's citizens to shut up and be productive, not heard. The EU and the US are about to collapse under the weight of too many social programs and spending, the other way from what pro says we're leading the world.7. Economic and class parallels can be drawn between the US and Rome.Pro only gave the Rome side of the parallel, not how it relates to the US.8. Many other Western Hemisphere nations have become part of the US Empire because they made trade agreements with the US.Not likely unless pro can show that the agreement unfairly benefits the US.9. It seems irrefutable that America has a corporate empire.I could find no definition for "corporate empire" as it relates to national government. Besides, in our free market system, corporations are FREE from the government. Just because the company is there, doesn't mean the government is.