The American professor is analyzing the notions of empire and of hegemony, which are interwoven in the USA foreign policy, making it extremely intricate to understand the processes on the world arena. In the author’s opinion, the US backing for self-determination and decolonization has created expectations abroad subversive of the very control American leaders have sought to exercise. Seen from overseas, Americans have placed themselves in the contradictory position of celebrating self-determination while violating it in multiple ways in many places and not just in the present but over several centuries.