what is imperialism anyway?

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Because of its sheer size, an elephant can cause much more damage in a 
china shop than, say, a snake.  Does that mean that elephant is more 
aggressive than a snake?  To answer this question, we need to analytically 
separate the effects of the size of these animals from those of their 
natural dispositions.

The same applies to imperialism.  Because of its sheer size and resources, 
whatever the US does will have repercussions around the world - just like 
an elephant moving in a china shop.  But imperialism is more than having 
repercussions - its an intent to exert influence outside a country's 
borders.  And it would be utterly naive to presume that even the smallest 
countries do not have such an intent.

In that context, is the US more imperialist than other countries - if we 
control for the size of the country?

wojtek