The US distinguished its postwar dominance from old colonialism as benevolent supremacy

Evidence

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said of the Suez crisis that what “the British and French have done is nothing but the straight, oldfashioned variety of colonialism of the most obvious sort.” In contrast, the United States crafted a new model of imperialism on the basis of what McAlister has called “benevolent supremacy.” This model was premised on the notion that a US-dominated world would ensure liberty and democracy for all through the mechanism of free-market capitalism. Henry Luce, publisher of the magazines Life and Time, captured this new global role in an editorial titled “The New American Century.” He argued that the United States was a “Good Samaritan” that would bring about “freedom and justice” around the world in the postwar period. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 245

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the benevolence/exceptionalism discourse Rana and others critique about post-9/11 American empire; useful for showing the ideological frame predates 9/11. — connects to: US postwar imperialism was framed as benevolent supremacy via free-market capitalism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 245; American postwar empire legitimized itself through ‘benevolent supremacy’ rather than old colonialism. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 144; Postwar US empire was legitimated through modernization theory and Orientalism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 256 (+7 more)
• SHARE: Worth sending to someone interested in ‘New American Century’ lineage — note the same name later used by the 1997 neoconservative Project for the New American Century.

Broader Connections

• American postwar empire legitimized itself through ‘benevolent supremacy’ rather than old colonialism. #corroborates (1.00) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 144
• US post-war hegemony repurposed Orientalism and modernization theory to justify empire. #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 28
• Postwar US empire was legitimated through modernization theory and Orientalism #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 256
• Soft power discourse framed US dominance as benign across the establishment #expands (0.80)
• American empire inherited and reformulated European Orientalism after World War II #expands (0.80) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 724
• Postwar America had to persuade a decolonizing world of its leadership #qualifies (0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 897
• US postwar security state disguised imperial expansion as defensive exceptionalism #expands (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 732
• Post-Cold War US empire rebranded military force as benevolent multicultural intervention #qualifies (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 403