I think the main difference now with "empires" is that any empire today has the ability to destroy the entire planet if they feel like their empire will crumble. I believe the U.S. is willing to risk that to remain as the leading empire. Those opposed to the U.S. might risk it too. The U.S. has been inching closer and closer to complete world domination. They have U.S. bases in just about half the countries in the world. They aren't there for humanitarian efforts either. It's all about geopolitical goals. They have about 800 military bases in about 80 countries.

[thenation.com]

"In a series of panels over two days, conference speakers from every corner of the globe proceeded to describe the extraordinary cruelty and toxic lethality of US foreign policy despite King’s warning more than 50 years ago. We learned that the United States has approximately 800 formal military bases in 80 countries, a number that could exceed 1,000 if you count troops stationed at embassies and missions and so-called “lily-pond” bases, with some 138,000 soldiers stationed around the globe. David Vine, author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Overseas Harm America and the World, reported that only 11 other countries have bases in foreign countries, some 70 altogether. Russia has an estimated 26 to 40 in nine countries, mostly former Soviet Republics, as well as in Syria and Vietnam; the UK, France, and Turkey have four to 10 bases each; and an estimated one to three foreign bases are occupied by India, China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands."

The author of the article in the OP is pretty disingenuous though. No mention of Obama? It's not just "the right" that has taken us down this path, although Obama himself has said he would be considered a moderate Republican of the 80s. Obama expanded the Bush administration's war to about 7 different countries. He did it with mostly drones. The U.S. is not going to change course, because there are establishment Democrats that are going to go down the same path.

Be careful, somebody will say... "is not greed if is ameriKKKan".

Ruling class greed I'd say. Not everyone is greedy.

I tried to read it, but it is unfathomable and in conflict with most of what we know about the state of the world. (And please, none of the following is a defense of the Trumpster Fire.) Today, our world is safer, richer, and healthier than ever before. The stats are available anywhere, but both Pinker and Ridley have documented them rather extensively.