All comparisons between America's current place in the world and anything legitimately called an empire in the past reveal ignorance and confusion about any reasonable meaning of the concept empire, especially the comparison with the Roman Empire.
Donald KaganHistory had its own way of explaining things. The way historians explain things is by telling a story.
Donald KaganWar has been more common than peace, and extended periods of peace have been rare in a world divided into multiple states
Donald KaganIn Our Underachieving Colleges, [Derek] Bok acts as both diagnostician and healer, wielding social-science statistics and professional studies to trace the etiology of today's illnesses and to recommend palliative treatments for what he has discovered.
Donald Kagan