Posted on January 31, 2025

The Empire Must Serve the Republic

Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, January 31, 2025

Credit: © Sgt.1c Nicholas De La Pena/U.S A/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire


Subscribe to future audio versions of AmRen articles here.

America has been an empire my entire life. Under the new Administration, the empire is serving Americans, rather than a nebulous “postwar order.” Paleoconservatives, libertarians, and most race realists are skeptical of foreign intervention and often sneer at “empire,” but what matters is whose interests it serves. That is now the main foreign policy debate of the Trump Administration, and it goes back to Pat Buchanan.

One year before his ill-fated third-party run for the presidency, Mr. Buchanan wrote A Republic, Not an Empire. He called for America First policies on trade, limiting America’s defense commitments, and a return to non-interventionism. The 2000 bid was a disaster. He fought then-gadfly Donald Trump for the Reform Party nomination. Mr. Trump called Mr. Buchanan a “Hitler Lover” and said the book was “so bad.”

Donald Trump later apologized — one of the few apologies he has ever made. He and Mr. Buchanan don’t disagree on foreign policy. Both suggested NATO exploits America. Both blasted the Iraq War. Both want to defend America’s commercial interests rather than rely on the supposed common good served by free trade. Mr. Buchanan also wanted to expand America even to Greenland. He was not opposed to using American power; he just wanted it used in American interests.

The difference between the two men may lie in President Trump’s more direct, zero-sum approach. While Pat Buchanan argued that Iraq War(s) were not in America’s interest, Donald Trump said we should have taken the oil.

Many Americans like the idea of a “strong” America throwing its weight around. This explains why foreign intervention tends to be a winning issue, at least at first. Americans don’t like losing wars, and Joe Biden’s decline in the polls began with the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Even though President Biden was right to pull out, it ended in a catastrophe that President Trump ably exploited.

“Empire” is supposed to be for the benefit of the empire-builders, but it is the core group in the ruling state that often pays the greatest cost. Empire was a liability for Germans in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and for Russians in the early Soviet Union. Non-whites will never forgive Europe for colonial empires, but colonization benefited the Third World far more than it did Europe. And if France had managed to defeat the Algerian insurgents, it would have meant even more non-whites within France. Nation can be enslaved by empire. Foreign glory is less important than a secure homeland.

And yet, patriots always want their country to be strong and expand. Donald Trump says our new Golden Age begins now, and maybe he’s right. The fury that drove Donald Trump to his great political comeback grew out of the sense, shared by many Americans, that they had no real stake in America’s success.

The United States is a global superpower, but what does this mean for whites? Their jobs are offshored, foreigners flood in, taxes go up for global welfare, and their sons are sent out as global policemen. The group that receives the least from the system is the indispensable bulwark of American patriotism and identity.

Escaping the trap of empire does not mean abandoning global power and becoming a large version of Switzerland. We probably could not manage that even if we wanted to. Even in our “isolationist” period, Americans conquered a continent, something more important than anything we achieved as a “superpower.” As a colony, Americans were willing to fight king and government over restrictions on westward expansion. If the South had won the War Between the States, the Confederacy would have expanded into Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Expansion is integral to American identity.

The true opportunity lies in putting America’s power behind American interests. American Empire must serve white interests, because the core American identity is white identity. That remains a long-term goal, but the process is underway.

President Trump says his foreign policy will no longer promote universalist and globalist ends. He explains what it will do instead:

He wants an “External Revenue Service” to extract wealth from foreigners for the benefit of Americans.

However, Mr. Trump’s first major use of American power was defensive. He wanted to send Colombian illegals back on military aircraft. Left-wing president Gustavo Petro turned them back, saying his country would “receive our fellow citizens on civilian planes, without treating them like criminals” and insisting on “dignity and respect.”

President Trump struck back immediately: more Border Patrol inspections of Colombian citizens and products, travel restrictions on Colombian leaders, and a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian products — to go up to 50 percent in a week. Unlike during his previous term in office, the President got no opposition from Republicans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his department was ready to impose the necessary penalties. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Congress would pass sanctions on Colombia if it didn’t take back citizens: “President Trump is putting America first, just like he said he would.”

President Petro went on an anti-white rant. He said he would not shake hands with “white enslavers” and suggested blacks and Hispanics in Washington DC should stop fighting each other and unite, presumably against whites. He also accused Mr. Trump of believing Colombians were of an “inferior race.” This, along with a threatened retaliatory tariff by Colombia, briefly excited lefties. Some happily predicted a shortage of coffee or flowers imported from Colombia.

Brian Tyler Cohen:

Selina Wang:

AOC:

However, Colombia did a “complete retreat” in less than 12 hours. President Petro even reposted the White House’s triumphant statement, a total acknowledgment of defeat.

Other Latin American countries are bending the knee. Honduran President Xiomara Castro initially threatened to close American military bases in her country but now just wants “dialogue.” Brazil complained about illegals being returned in chains but did not dare impose conditions. A proposed resistance meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States collapsed because of lack of attendance.

You could argue that sending illegals back on military transports was harsh, but symbols have power. More importantly, power is power, and it would work on big issues, too.

It is amusing that Colombia’s president immediately started talking about race before being humiliated. Racial blackmail used to work. President George W. Bush said the day Kanye West accused him of not caring about black people was the worst of his presidency — a presidency that included the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq War, and the financial crisis of 2007/2008. President Trump batted away the race card, and leftists who celebrated Colombia’s defiance looked foolish.

What does American power mean for us? We should have no illusions about “taking America back,” and American identity is full of contradictions. The dilemma for civic nationalists is that our history is indefensible by modern standards. The Founding Fathers were slave-holding “white supremacists,” who limited naturalization to “free white citizens.” Race-blind conservatives refuse to understand that race always mattered.

Leftists know our racial history better than conservatives do. The 1619 Project, though laughably biased, is closer to reality than pretending the Founding Fathers dreamed of a black president. Even those who use empathy and egalitarianism as weapons against us tend to be fierce ethnonationalists and racial loyalists for the groups they like. The internet makes it easier for ordinary white Americans to see the endless double standards.

The defense of American interests makes some leftists show their true colors. Selena Gomez tearfully paid tribute to “her people” being deported, even though on paper she is a native-born citizen.

Those protesting deportation rally under foreign flags.

Some in government are pledging open defiance of immigration law enforcement. They must be crushed.

Putting American citizens first on trade and immigration, and using American power to back that determination, is revolutionary by current standards

Carl Schmitt tells us that the fundamental political question is the distinction between friend and enemy. In an age of identity politics, it is between “us” and “them.” In these confusing times, someone who is “other” might be a better friend than kin. However, true understanding and political unity with a stranger is doubtful. Kipling writes: “The Stranger within my gates/He may be evil or good/But I cannot tell what powers control — What reasons sway his mood/Nor when the Gods of his far-off land/Shall repossess his blood.”

This is an age of identity, and when the American government defends America, the strangers within our gates reveal themselves not just as “others” but as enemies. While white conservatives should have been willing to develop a political identity based upon race years ago, they did not — or could not. But they claim to be “American” more fervently than anyone else.

Many non-whites seem unable even to fake it convincingly, even if many white Americans want them to be part of the national community. Recently, we saw Indians in America heap scorn on whites when whites questioned the Indians’ beloved H-1B system. Now, we see a foreign leader who is outraged that he must take back his own people, and even justifies his outrage in anti-white terms.

The solution to any political problem is power:

Time is against us. A non-white majority looks inevitable. White identity remains forbidden in public life while non-white identity is celebrated. Tens of millions of invaders occupy American soil, and many government officials, churches, and organizations welcome them.

But America’s superpower status — something that has not been used in our interests in our lifetime — is a great asset. President Trump is doing what should be done. Non-whites are reacting exactly as we would expect. The more he acts, the more they will react. It will become even more obvious who considers himself American and who doesn’t. All this is necessary if we are to secure a future for our people. Empire may be inevitable, and for now, it must serve us.

About Gregory Hood

View all posts by Gregory Hood
Mr. Hood is a staff writer for American Renaissance. He has been active in conservative groups in the US. You can follow him on Gab.