America: The accidental empire?:

The BBC has a very readable six-part online series by Jonathan Marcus. Click the link above to read up...

PART ONE: First world order
Globalisation and US power are inextricably linked.

PART TWO : Accidental empire
Did the Spanish-American war of 1898 trigger US global expansion?

PART THREE: New age of warfare
What are the issues confronting the US army in an age of the pre-emptive strike?

PART FOUR : Storm brewing
The growing global anger over aggressive US trade policies

(I guess the next two parts are still to come...)