There Aren't Many States That Want to Join the 'Empire'

Brands doesn’t pay any attention to the scores of countries that have no desire to be in the U.S. orbit in this way.

Hal Brands is excited by how many smaller states want to become security dependents of the United States:

To be sure, America’s adherence to these maxims is imperfect. Yet the flaws of an American-led world seem modest compared to those of any other plausible order, which is why so many countries have seen admission into Washington’s informal empire as their ticket to salvation.

It isn’t surprising that some smaller countries would welcome the protection of the world’s superpower, but it isn’t clear why the U.S. should be so eager to provide that protection to all comers. Smaller states on the borders of larger neighbors have obvious reasons to want a great power patron that will pledge to defend them at great risk to itself, but it isn’t obvious why a great power should want to take them up on that. Brands looks at a handful of cases where other countries want to have U.S. protection and concludes that this proves how wonderful the empire is, but he never really bothers to make the case that this ever-expanding list of commitments is something that benefits the U.S. I suppose a cheerleader for empire isn’t going to raise such awkward questions.