About the Book

George W. Bush has fundamentally changed America‘s place in the world. In some neo-conservative circles the word ‘empire’ is back in fashion, and a great republic that broke away from the British empire is now supposed to be proud of its new imperial role. This book explains how the neo-conservatives and the petro-military complex have hijacked US foreign policy. It examines the price that Americans will have to pay for this new era of unlimited US military might - a never ending fear of terrorism; mushrooming defence and security spending; the erosion of civil liberties at home and the deaths abroad of tens of thousands of civilians and military combatants. At the heart of this disturbing and timely book is the ultimate question. Previous empires have foundered on the rock of imperial overstretch - the costs of trying to run and protect empires eventually outstripping the capacity and willingness of the citizenry to pay for them. Is the US in danger of going down that road? Who around George ‘Dubya’ Bush is pushing him along that path?

Commendations

'Imperial Overstretch is a sweeping view of the history of US empire, the economic and military underpinnings of this empire, and the rise of the petro-military complex under the Bush administration. It is essential reading for those wishing to understand the rise of the neo-cons, the political birthing of George Bush and the imperial hijacking of September 11.‘ - Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Global Exchange and the women‘s peace group CodePink

‘A brilliant expose of savage greed and imperial hubris masquerading as the United States of America.‘ - Mike Davis, University of California at Irvine

‘Roger Burbach and Jim Tarbell provide us with indispensable insights into why, for all its bluster and armed might, the American empire has feet of clay. Provocative and comprehensive, this book is must reading for the global resistance movement.‘ - Walden Bello, 2003 Recipient, Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize)

'Imperial Overstretch is indispensable reading for anyone seeking to understand the underlying motives for the US invasion of Iraq. Placing the Iraqi occupation in the context of the administration‘s imperial design, the authors highlight the fatal flaws in the administration‘s destructive drive for global domination.‘ - Michael Klare, author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America‘s Petroleum Dependency.

‘Imperial Overstretch is a brilliantly argued narrative of the past, present, and future of the American global imperial project. Indispensable reading!‘ - Richard Falk, author of Declining World Order: America‘s Imperial Geopolitics (2004)

‘At a time when American imperialism is in a particularly brutal and violent phase, this book is essential reading.‘ - David Barsamian, Alternative Radio, and co-author with Arundhati Roy of ‘The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile‘ and with Noam Chomsky of ‘Propaganda & the Public Mind‘

Contents

Prologue: The Toll of Empire
1. George W. Bush and the Reality of Empire
2. Empire as the American Way of Life
3. The ‘American Century‘
4. The Rise of the Bush People
5. The Making of George Bush
6. The Politics of Fear: Bush Hijacks September 11
7. The Drums of Pre-emptive War
8. Iraq and the Imperial Dead Enders
9. Interregnum: Empire in Descent Confronts World in Upheaval

About the Authors

Roger Burbach is Director of Research and Publication at the Center for the Study of the Americas (CENSA) in Berkeley, California. A historian by training, he was for a number of years a staff member and writer with NACLA, the North American Congress on Latin America. During the 1990s he was Visiting Scholar in Peace and Conflict Studies, and subsequently at the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of numerous books, including most recently The Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice (London, Zed Books, 2003), Globalization and Postmodern Politics: Zapatistas versus High Tech Robber Barons (London, Pluto Press, 2001) and Globalize This! The Battle against the World Trade Organization (Monroe, ME, Common Courage Press, 2000) (edited with Kevin Danaher).

Jim Tarbell is a writer and broadcaster based in Northern California. Following spells as a staffer for Congressman Wendell Wyatt (1968-72) and Peace Corps volunteer (1973-75), he founded his own publishing house, Ridge Times Press, in 1981. Amongst many other activities, he is now the editor of the Alliance for Democracy quarterly journal Alliance Alerts, and co-hosts a radio programme on KZYX called Corporations and Democracy. He is the author of a previous book, I Came Not Alone (1994), which tells of ordinary people's experiences of globalization in Latin America, and is currently working on a new book, Democracy versus Empire.