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The Demise of States: A Continuation of U.S. Culture, Not an Anomaly

ESSAY  |  U.S. IMPERIALISM

The U.S. leader glorifies military brutality and demands the Iranian people—collectively labeled as “You”—to “take over your government.” It is not merely a testament to utter historical ignorance and blatant Western imperialism but the latest example of a U.S. tradition, rooted in the very foundation of the 250-year-old nation and leader of the “Free World.”

The U.S. armed forces—in tandem with their Israeli allies—invaded Iran in the early hours of the last day of February 2026, in what was the first strikes of an undeclared war. Nothing is clear besides vague statements of regime change in the Iranian capital Tehran, political objectives—short and long-term—as well as whatever aid and assurances that the aggressors will pledge to the Iranian people, aside from an even more unclear call for “you to rise up and take over your government.”

The ethnocentric and Western mentality at the top of this campaign becomes abundantly clear in one single word uttered by the U.S. President in his speech glorifying the military brutality: “You.” Iran is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, dating back to the 3100s BC, inhabited by numerous ethnicities, political, social, and religious cultures, whose urban organization skills were cemented long before the advent of its European counterparts.

When a U.S. President labels an entire population—93 million—as “You,” it speaks not only to a glaring lack of contextual knowledge of the theater of war, it offers the leader of the “Free World” a convenient exit out of a criminal activity if “they” (the Iranian “Others”) should not grasp this golden opportunity to topple their dictatorial regime. It is not the first time Western leaders prove to know very little about the very contexts they interfere with.

Perhaps it comes with the cemented culture and political structures of imperialism itself: the ruthless ruler seldom knows about the dreams, identities, or realities of his serfs. These moving pawns on a chessboard categorized in accordance with black-and-white alternatives never come close to the ruler’s lair; they remain excluded entities, disturbing mosquitos at dusk on the plantation porch.

Roots of War

The U.S. nation is built on military force and imperialistic aims. The conquest of indigenous lands and the genocide of the North American native peoples remain forgiven and explained atrocities in accordance with the “Manifest Destiny” narrative. In times of the latest undeclared war against Iran, it is essential to focus on the contentious pattern of the U.S. nation, where the President remains able to launch lethal attacks like Biblical rulers sweeping swords over unworthy infidels.

The first undeclared “foreign” war that the U.S. launched was in 1798, during the “Quasi-War,” also known as the “Undeclared Naval War with France,” in the Caribbean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. The war’s global scale is noteworthy and speaks of the military-industrial capabilities that were installed in the newborn North American nation.

Much like the current military campaign in Iran, the “Quasi-War” long appeared avoidable in favor of diplomatic solutions. The U.S. Congress’s suspension of repayment of French loans from the American Revolutionary War had prompted the French to seize U.S. trading ships, leading to an increase of uncontrolled piracy activities in the Caribbean.

The outcome of the war was the “Convention of 1800,” establishing peaceful and free-trading relationships between the two countries, but in U.S. political chambers the “Quasi-War” has had long-lasting impacts and debates about the nature and consequences of “undeclared” warfare—but most importantly, it set a precedent that the U.S. could wage war against foreign powers without a formal declaration of war.[1]

The Continuation of Warfare

Not long after the peace agreement with France in 1800, U.S. naval forces engaged in another undeclared war with Tripoli between 1801 and 1805. This was followed by another undeclared military campaign in the Spanish Territories of Mexico and West Florida, in 1806 and 1810, respectively.

The list is long and retrievable from the U.S. Congress. Notable “undeclared wars” mentioned, besides the “Quasi-War,” are e.g., the “First Barbary War” (1801–1805), where the U.S. (assisted by Sweden) engaged in a naval war against the Ottoman Tripolitania, in modern-day Libya, followed by the “Second Barbary War” (1815) in modern-day Algeria. Other examples of undeclared U.S. wars are the Korean War (1950–1953), the Vietnam War (1964–1973), the Persian Gulf War (1991), and the Iraq War (2003).[2]

This list does not, however, include the number of U.S. foreign interventions and regime change operations that have occurred with stark continuity since the dawn of the American Empire. One recent study identifies 47 documented interventions “characterized by consistent economic motivations disguised as ideological justifications, standardized operational methods emphasizing information warfare and political infiltration”—predominantly leading to “negative long-term consequences for targeted nations.”[3]

These illegal operations have occurred all over the world, involving European territories (e.g., British Guiana in 1964), regardless of the ruling political party in the U.S. Congress and the White House.[4]

Against "You" For "We, the People"

When U.S. Presidents address the “You” in Iran while the U.S. military-industrial complex carries out brutal bombing campaigns with civilian casualties, it appears that it really is a message to the “We, the People” of the U.S. A message of strength and unity on home soil by divide and rule the serfs on a global scale. Ever since its first undeclared military campaign, the U.S. has proven an extraordinary ability to create its own enemies, constantly paving the way for new generations who realize, live, and resist its imperialistic structures.

Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean revolutionary and anti-imperialist Amílcar Cabral summarizes this liberation process as “an act of culture”:

“A people who free themselves from foreign domination will not be culturally free unless, without underestimating the importance of positive accretions from the oppressor and other cultures, they return to the upward paths of their own culture.”[5]

References

Cabral, A. (2007) [1979] Unity and Struggle: Selected Speeches and Writings. Pretoria/New York: Unisa Press/Amílcar Cabral Foundation.

Fehlings, G.E. (2000) “America’s First Limited War.” Naval War College Review (Vol.53, No.3, 2000).

Prados, J. & Jimenez-Bacardi, A. (2020) “CIA covert operations: The 1964 overthrow of Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana.” National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book (6 April 2020).

U.S. Congress (2023) “Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798–2023” (June 2023).

Footnotes

[1] Fehlings 2000:129–132.

[2] U.S. Congress, “Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798–2023” (June 2023).

[3] Gupta 2025:11–12.

[4] Prados & Jimenez-Bacardi 2020.

[5] Cabral 2007 [1979]:174.

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