「列寧主義者」說斷言，美國的帝國主義政策產自美國商業精華區之共同利益，即必須確保並利用資本與貨品市場。自馬克斯主義者看來，商業行為之本質在於控制政府，國際軍備競賽不過是國際性經濟戰之一環，而兩者皆受資本主義固有之擴張天性所驅使。美國海軍退役將領史曼德雷·巴特勒（Smedley Butler）曾說他的工作是充當「大企業的打手」（"muscle man for big business"）時，即彰顯此種觀點。此說對帝國主義的典型解決方案為商業革命。此說於第一次世界大戰期間由布爾什維克、列寧，與布哈林，基於早期的馬克斯主義者、社會主義者、與無政府主義者的論點立說。阿里、福斯特、連司、與金殷諸人，連同史密斯本人，皆持此種看法，但各有不同形式。
布特其實肯用「帝國主義」形容美國的政策，不只用於20世紀早期，而是「至少始自1803年」。但這主要不過是用詞不同，布特仍辯稱美國對外政策向來基於善意。[37]布特並非個案，美國的保守主義專欄作家查爾斯·克魯瑟默寫道：「人們現正自『帝國』中一詞中出櫃。」（"People are now coming out of the closet on the word 'empire."）不少新保守主義者接受帝國一詞，如英國史家保羅·強森，以及作家汀許·狄守哲和馬克·史推恩。有些自由主義鷹派人士亦持相同態度，如齊畢紐·布里辛斯基和麥可·伊格納泰夫等政治人物。[38]
(原文："proceeding along a path to which no limit can be perceived.")Kellner, Douglas. American Exceptionalism. 2003-04-25 [2006-02-20]. （原始内容存档于2006-02-17）.
(原文："in Britain, empire was justified as a benevolent “white man’s burden.” And in the United States, empire does not even exist; “we” are merely protecting the causes of freedom, democracy, and justice worldwide.")Magdoff, Harry; John Bellamy Foster. After the Attack...The War on Terrorism. 當月評論. November 2001, 53 (6): 7 [2007-03-29]. （原始内容存档于2011-03-17）.
(原文："the United States, from the time it gained its own independence, has used every available means—political, economic, and military—to help and nurture other nations.")Lens, Sidney. The Forging of the American Empire. Haymarket Books and Pluto Press. 2003. ISBN 978-0-7453-2100-4. Book jacket.
(原文："far from what the Founding Fathers had intended the young Republic to become.")Buchanan, Patrick. A Republic, Not and Empire. Regnery Publishing. 1999. ISBN 978-0-89526-272-1. p. 165.
(原文："fix the premises of discourse and interpretation, and the definition of what is newsworthy in the first place, and they explain the basis and operations of what amount to propaganda campaigns.")Chomsky, Noam. Manufacturing Consent. Pantheon Books. 1988. ISBN 978-0-375-71449-8. （原始内容存档于2007-03-14）.
(原文："the United States does indeed occupy a privileged position in Empire, but this privilege derives not from its similarities to the old European imperialist powers, but from its differences.")Negri, Antonio; Hardt, Michael. Empire. Harvard University Press. 2000: xiii–xiv [2007-03-29]. ISBN 978-0-674-00671-3. （原始内容存档于2021-04-12）.
(原文："we don't seek empires. We're not imperialistic. We never have been.")Bookman, Jay. Let's just say it's not an empire. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2003-06-25. （原始内容存档于2007年2月3日）.
(原文："I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn the better it will please me. I want all persons killed who are capable of bearing arms in actual hostilities against the United States.")Miller (1982), op. cit. p. 220. See also Wikiquote: Philippine-American War Quotes （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）.
(原文"the United States would set up a constabulary, a quasi-military police force led by Americans and made up of local enlisted men. Then the Americans would work with local officials to administer a variety of public services, from vaccinations and schools to tax collection. American officials, though often resented, usually proved more efficient and less venal than their native predecessors... Holding fair elections became a top priority because once a democratically elected government was installed, the Americans felt they could withdraw." )
(原文："the United States was least likely to intervene in those nations (such as Argentina and Costa Rica) where American investors held the biggest stakes. The longest occupations were undertaken in precisely those countries--Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic--where the United States had the smallest economic stakes... Unlike the Dutch in the East Indies, the British in Malaya, or the French in Indochina, the Americans left virtually no legacy of economic exploitation.")Boot, Max. Neither New nor Nefarious: The Liberal Empire Strikes Back. Current History. November 2003, 102 (667). （原始内容存档于2008-05-15）.
(原文："If we really are imperial, we rule over a very funny sort of empire... The United States hasn't annexed anyone's soil since the Spanish-American War... Imperial powers order and subjects obey. But in our case, we offer the Turks strategic guarantees, political support — and money... Isolationism, parochialism, and self-absorption are far stronger in the American character than desire for overseas adventurism.")Hanson, Victor Davis. A Funny Sort of Empire. National Review. November 2002 [2007-03-29]. （原始内容存档于2008-05-11）.
(原文："the United States has pursued imperial policies, especially toward weak countries in the periphery. But U.S. relations with Europe, Japan, China, and Russia cannot be described as imperial... the use or threat of force is unthinkable. Their economies are deeply interwoven... they form a political order built on bargains, diffuse reciprocity, and an array of intergovernmental institutions and ad hoc working relationships. This is not empire; it is a U.S.-led democratic political order that has no name or historical antecedent.")Ikenberry, G. John. Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order. Foreign Affairs. March–April 2004. （原始内容存档于2012-07-09）.
(原文："With the exception of the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, American territory had remained fixed since 1848. In the 1890s a new spirit of expansion took hold... Yet Americans, who had themselves thrown off the shackles of empire, were not comfortable with administering one. In 1902 American troops left Cuba... The Philippines obtained... complete independence in 1946. Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth... and Hawaii became a state in 1959.")ed. George Clack. A brief history of the United States. A Portrait of the USA. United States Information Agency. September 1997 [2006-03-20]. （原始内容存档于2007-12-01）.
(原文："So influential has been the discourse insisting on American specialness, altruism and opportunity, that imperialism in the United States as a word or ideology has turned up only rarely and recently in accounts of the United States culture, politics and history. But the connection between imperial politics and culture in North America, and in particular in the United States, is astonishingly direct.")
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