But by taking over the Spanish empire, America had become the kind of imperial power it had once denounced.

NPR: 'Folly of Empire' Offers Critique of U.S. Imperialism

But if the imperial attribution is to mean anything, an empire has to have at least two characteristics besides those of huge might and a willingness to use it.

ECONOMIST: America and empire

Travelling through the country, you begin to glimpse the complex influences that have shaped it: Buddhism, the legacy of the British Empire, the ethnic diversity of the population, and the long imperial history of the Burmese themselves.

BBC: A new dawn in Burma

In Europe, countries that were once global imperial powers must accept another step in their long retreat from empire.

WSJ: Walter Russell Mead: The Myth of America's Decline

AstraZeneca traces its corporate DNA to Imperial Chemical Industries, once the biggest company in the British Empire, while Lilly created the insulin market and the biotech market among many other achievements.

FORBES: Connect

Both during the post-World War I breakup of the Ottoman Empire and with the breakup of the British and French empires after World War II, British and French imperial authorities colluded with Arab imperialists to guarantee the latter's nearly uninhibited control over the Middle East.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Sudanese crossroads