How does an Empire stay together? Like a corporation, a country that expands and develops rapidly, will eventually contract.
Empires much larger than ours have been beaten down at the hands of father time, and a breakdown in the structure that seems inevitable for any empire. It is important for us to examine and learn from the mistakes of our imperious brethren. I worry that our country is becoming more like our ex enemies, the Soviet Union. This administration guides us more towards a militaristic state each year.
So how has the UK done it? France? I would argue that a strong central and centrist government and military is very important. Strong diplomacy and allies also seems to help.
The centered government seems too crucial. Our policies have been over characteristically right leaning while France's are way out to the left, which is no good for anyone.
Researching the British Empire, the stretch of their empire is amazing. It was once referred to as the empire in which the sun never set because of its vast size. The British seem to have been experts at taking over and setting up their territories for self governance. These territories became Australia, Canada and the now blossoming India. So why are we having so much trouble in Iraq ?
My theory is in our approach and the region. If you take a look at the British Empire, aside from India, they were unable to successfully conquer any part of the Middle East. England's approach has also been typically progressive, while we are much more conservative in terms of government and projection across the world.
If you take the example of slavery, the British Empire abolished slavery in 1808. It took us more than a half decade and a civil war to catch up.
While we are hated by the Middle East, you don't hear much complaint from current or former British colonies, even though some, such as Nigeria, have weathered an incredibly rough time.
Although Iraq is not officially an American colony, it is clearly suffering without our intervention. We have set up a few million dollars worth of new equipment such as treatment plants, but they are not being used because the roads are so dangerous. As soon as we let the Iraqi's "control" their own fate, actions and talk immediately took an air of civil war.
There is no easy solution to Iraq, but perhaps looking to imperialists past will help.