芝加哥大学的米尔斯海默(John Mearsheimer)是国际关系现实主义(realism)的倡导者之一,今天持这种观点的人不多,美国人,也包括很多欧洲的,大多以自由主义(liberalism)为主。冷战结束后,美国成了单极霸主,当时美国面临很多选择,比如解甲归田,衣锦还乡,可是美国选择了一种更为理想的政策,解放全人类,就是说把自由带到世界的任何一个角落(Liberal hegemony),美国将不惜以政治、经济、文化和军事手段和力量来达到这一目的。其实你想一想,把自由主义换成共产主义,基本上是一个同一个思维,米尔斯海默说从一开始他就知道这必将惨败(Bound to Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Liberal International Order)。
For too many decades, long after it was no longer in an economic position to do so, the US has encouraged US-dollar dominance as it allowed its trade policy to be dictated by financial and foreign policy interests at the expense of domestic...https://t.co/5biKSiwCTm
Liberal democracy requires a set of private institutions to function. These present themselves as 'independent' but actually form a network centered on a handful of unaccountable elites. The US seeks to 'spread democracy' because this is the ideal for spreading US influence.