Colossus: The Rise and Decline of US Imperialism

“We see that imperialism, which seemed such an insuperable colossus, has proved before the whole world to be a colossus with feet of clay.” – Leon Trotsky As imperialism plunged Europe into the horrors of World War I, Lenin produced a comprehensive explanation of the highest stage of capitalism. However, many decades have passed since then and new contradictions have emerged. In the first section of this volume, John Peterson explains the basic features of imperialism, based on Lenin’s analysis, with up-to-date facts and figures from the development of American imperialism in particular. Then, he traces the rise and relative decline of US imperialism from its beginnings as a backwater colony through its transformation into the largest, most dominant capitalist power on the planet after the two World Wars. Although it suffered a major defeat in the Vietnam War, it remained a superpower. With the fall of the Soviet Union, US imperialism became the only superpower on the world stage. Ho