can America be called an empire

That's just incorrect. The British monarchs assumed the title of "Emperor/Empress of India" until Elizabeth took the throne.

We're just the hegemon of the modern geopolitical situation. In order to be an empire we'd have to have colonies or dependencies that support an established imperial capitol via taxes.

To the OP, America can't be considered an empire. It never was and still isn't. Let us take a look at history. It went to war with Mexico and annexed some territory like every other war in history. It annexed Hawaii from the natives population. Like the French, Spanish, Portuguese, British, Belgian, and Dutch did to the colonies they made. Has Belgium, Portugal, France, and the Netherlands ever been called an empire? We bashed Spain in a war and took some territory. See post for Mexican-American War. We intervened in a bunch of Central and South American countries. But did we annex those countries, or make their cultures identical to the US? No, we didn't. The Philippines came from a war with the Spanish, so using it as an example of the US being an empire is flawed considering we got it from a war, not through colonization. Puerto Rico, is, well, yeah, see GeneralMosh's post. It just has a lot of influence. That is it. And it solves kicking the crap out of countries that can't defend themselves. But it isn't an empire. Never was. Still isn't. I will only call its actions that of an imperialistic nation.

Though first we must look up what is the definition of an empire, and does the USA meet the definition/requirments of an empire. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/empire, From the looks of it we can not be considered an empire because we lack an all powerful sovereign. Now we must ask are self's, what if we did have an emperor would we fit the requirements of an empire, I say we would fit them back in the 1800s with are wars with Mexico and Spain, the manifest destiny, Hawaii and all that fun stuff, although Shisno brings up an excellent point that we got them from war and not through direct colonization.

You know, America's Army sucked balls pre-WWII.

Also, America can't be really considered an Empire by contemporary standards. America uses its influence (political, Economical or Military) to create puppets states, as seen in South America and in the Middle East, to serve American interest (be it National Resources or for Political gain). So in a way you could make the argument that the definition of "Empire" has evolved to fit with Standards of the geopolitical map of the 21st century.

The thing about America's shitty military is that once in war, they always just produce a million more tanks, have a million more men, and have a million more guns. They have the capacity to produce a shitload of weapons and death machines, that it is scary. And nowadays, our air force and navy is a the greatest in the world. So we are pretty much a-OK when it comes to invasions. Unless Mexico and Canada go, "Herp, derp, let us go all mass suicide attack on Americans. Herp derp."

Basically the only way to destroy would just have all the countries in the world max out their Military capacity and just invade the U.S. And even then it would just be a huge clusterfuck of death.........dude......lets go for it!

Yes, but they were never Emperor/Empress of the entire Empire, just India, so I wouldn't say it's quite the same.

They were monarchs, the same thing as an emperor. What the monarch was called has no effect on whether or not what they ruled was an empire, it was, the largest in history.

Ya I know, the difference is we didn't need it(our neighbors were Briton, and Mexico, with two giant oceans next to us). China on the other hand can only invade neighboring countries with there army, they would have to travel by sea. As for the air it is essential to war, nothing fucks a conventional war over like a strategic bombing campaign.

They were possessors of an imperial title, which makes their holdings part of an empire.

Not until 2070(Chuckle). There air force/ navy is small right now in comparison to the united states. There Navy needs to be larger much larger before I will accept them as next superpower. Same as air force. It is not necessarily how advanced it is there one step behind if you would. It is just that, they need to get bigger in order to compete early on in a conventional war. Against the current super power.

We have 2 of the best defences evar. There called oceans.

And our military is ridiculously overpowered. And even if we had a weaker military then China, we're in a symbiotic relationship, our economy with theres. No way in hell would they want to attack us... that would just be fucking stupid.

They are commie slime though. And we all know that commies are semi-retarded.

Totally. :3

Well, they do have a senate...

A very interesting and revealing look at China's future. Made me rethink what I thought I knew about China.

I agree, plus China is known for violating human rights, and having more executions than the U.S. In the 1950's it was a millionish a year.

Never would have guessed China would violate human rights, next you will tell me that they don't have freedom of speech.

Well, China is ingenius for, upon shooting their people designated for capital punishment, they charge the family the cost of the bullet.