The End of American Hegemony?

Newly elected President George Bush proclaimed that America would not indulge itself in "Nation Building" when he took office. What he meant, and later ignored, was America would no longer be Imperialist. Today, not even ten years later, Americans are spread out all over the globe in the name of Democracy. Now spreading Democracy and freedom is a good thing, don't get me wrong. But only to places where we are wanted, and where it will not cost American lives. And we can no longer afford to give away billions of dollars in the hope that the recipients will welcome our way of life. This just does not work. Perhaps the economic decline we are going through will pull us away from American hegemony and back to the realization that Imperialism is a dead end. This was a lesson learned by the Greeks, the Romans, the Mongols, Spanish, English, and in more recent times by Japan and Germany. And it doesn't take much to bring Imperialism to it's knees. A Jew from Bethlehem began the downfall of the Roman Empire; a tall Virginia plantation owner began the dismantling of the British Empire; and a cigar chewing Brit refused to give in to the Third Reich. Remove Jesus, Washington, and Churchill from the history books and we live in a much different world. Who knows, maybe the history books of the future will look back on our time and someone from our era will have changed the world. Often times financial crises brings people back to reality, that worldly possessions are fleeting, and that the ties that bind us to each other are everlasting.