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{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2017}}
[[File:Flag of the United States.svg|thumb|Flag of The United States of America]]
The '''American Century'''<ref>Lamb, Brian, and Harold Evans. The American Century. West Lafayette, IN: C-SPAN Archives, 1999.</ref><ref>[http://www.randomhouse.com/features/americancentury/frame.html The American Century]. randomhouse.com.</ref> is a characterization of the period since the middle of the 20th century as being largely dominated by the [[United States]] in political, economic, and cultural terms. It is comparable to the description of the period 1815–1914 as [[Britain's Imperial Century]].<ref>{{Cite book|first=Ronald|last=Hyam|title=Britain's Imperial Century, 1815–1914: A Study of Empire and Expansion|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2002|isbn=978-0-7134-3089-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2eMoHQAACAAJ|access-date=December 15, 2013}}</ref> The United States' influence grew throughout the 20th century, but became especially dominant after the end of [[World War II]], when only two [[superpower]]s remained, the United States and the [[Soviet Union]]. After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, the United States remained the world's only superpower,<ref name="Paper for presentation at the biennial meetings of the South African Political Studies Association Saldanha, Western Cape 29 June – 2 July 1999">{{cite web|url=http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm|title=Analyzing American Power in the Post-Cold War Era|access-date=February 28, 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070311021450/http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm| archive-date= March 11, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> and became the [[hegemon]], or what some have termed a
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==Early characteristics==
[[File:American Empire1.PNG|upright=1.5|thumb|Map of the United States and directly controlled territories at its greatest extent from 1898 to 1902, after the [[Spanish–American War]]]]
[[Image:GreaterAmericaMap.jpg|thumb|250px|Post–[[Spanish–American War]] map of "Greater America"]]
Beginning at the end of the 19th century, with the [[Spanish–American War]] in 1898 and the [[Boxer Rebellion]], the United States began to play a more prominent role in the world beyond the North American continent. The government adopted [[protectionism]] after the Spanish–American War to develop its native industry and built up the navy, the "[[Great White Fleet]]". When [[Theodore Roosevelt]] became president in 1901, he accelerated a foreign policy shift away from [[isolationism]] and towards foreign involvement, a process which had begun under his predecessor [[William McKinley]].
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In the 1941 State of the Union address, known as the [[Four Freedoms]] speech, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] made a break with the tradition of [[non-interventionism]]. He outlined the US role in helping allies already engaged in warfare. By August, President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] had drafted the [[Atlantic Charter]] to define goals for the post-war world.<ref>Langer and Gleason, chapter 21</ref> In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories with near-simultaneous [[Japanese expansion (1941–1942)|offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific]] including an [[attack on Pearl Harbor|attack on the US fleet at Pearl Harbor]].<ref name="Wohlstetter 1962 341_343">{{Harvnb|Wohlstetter|1962|pp=341–43}}.</ref> These attacks led the United States and United Kingdom to [[United States declaration of war on Japan|declare war on Japan]]. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, which the United States reciprocated.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunn|1998|p=157}}</ref>
During the War, the [[Four Policemen|Big Four]] powers (the United States, United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China) met to plan the post-war world.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Doenecke|first1=Justus D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdMF9rX6mX8C&pg=PA62|title=Debating Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policies, 1933–1945|last2=Stoler|first2=Mark A.|year=2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8476-9416-7|access-date=19 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Kelly|first=Brian|title=The Four Policemen and. Postwar Planning, 1943-1945: The Collision of Realist and. Idealist Perspectives|url=https://www.iup.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=37681|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> In an effort to maintain peace,<ref name="Yoder 1997 39">{{Harvnb|Yoder|1997|p=39}}.</ref> the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] formed the [[United Nations]], which came into existence on October 24, 1945,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/aboutun/history.htm|title=History of the UN|publisher=United Nations|access-date=January 25, 2010}}</ref> and adopted the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] in 1948, as a common standard for all member states.<ref name="Waltz 2002">{{Harvnb|Waltz|2002}}</ref> The United States worked closely with the United Kingdom to establish the [[IMF]], [[World Bank]] and [[NATO]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://rooseveltinstitute.org/special-relationship-between-great-britain-and-united-states-began-fdr/|title=The "Special Relationship" between Great Britain and the United States Began with FDR.|date=2010-07-22|work=Roosevelt Institute|access-date=2018-01-24|quote=and the joint efforts of both powers to create a new post-war strategic and economic order through the drafting of the Atlantic Charter; the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; and the creation of the United Nations.|archive-date=January 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125021103/http://rooseveltinstitute.org/special-relationship-between-great-britain-and-united-states-began-fdr/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/22/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-cameron-joint-press|title=Remarks by the President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron in Joint Press Conference|date=2016-04-22|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=2018-01-24|quote=That's what we built after World War II. The United States and the UK designed a set of institutions—whether it was the United Nations, or the Bretton Woods structure, IMF, World Bank, NATO, across the board.}}</ref>
==Pax Americana==
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==Post-1945 characteristics==
The ''American Century'' existed through the [[Cold War]] and demonstrated the status of the United States as the foremost of the world's two superpowers. After the Cold War, the most common belief held that only the United States fulfilled the criteria to be considered a superpower.<ref name="Paper for presentation at the biennial meetings of the South African Political Studies Association Saldanha, Western Cape 29 June – 2 July 1999"/> Its geographic area composed the [[List of countries and dependencies by area|fourth-largest state in the world]], with an area of approximately 9.37 million km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>[http://www.theodora.com/wfb1989/united_states/united_states_geography.html US geography]</ref> The population of the US was 248.7 million in 1990, at that time the fourth-largest nation.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/table-2.pdf US Census] census.gov</ref>
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The American Century includes the political influence of the United States but also its economic influence. Many [[State (polity)|states]] around the world would, over the course of the 20th century, adopt the economic policies of the [[Washington Consensus]], sometimes against the wishes of their populations. The economic force of the US was powerful at the end of the century due to it being by far the [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|largest economy in the world]]. The US had large resources of minerals, energy resources, metals, and timber, a large and modernized farming industry and large industrial base. The United States dollar is the dominant world [[reserve currency]] under the [[Bretton Woods system]]. US systems were rooted in capitalist economic theory based on supply and demand, that is, production determined by customers' demands. The US was allied with the [[G7]] major economies. US economic policy prescriptions were the "standard" reform packages promoted for [[Economic crisis|crisis-wracked]] [[developing country|developing countries]] by Washington, DC-based international institutions such as the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF), [[World Bank]], as well as the [[US Treasury Department]].<ref>Williamson, John: [http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?researchid=486 What Washington Means by Policy Reform] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625085003/http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=486 |date=June 25, 2009 }}, in: Williamson, John (ed.): ''Latin American Readjustment: How Much has Happened'', Washington: Institute for International Economics 1989.</ref>
[[File:American bases worldwide.svg|thumb|right|[[List of United States military bases|Countries with United States military bases]], as of
The [[military of the United States]] was a naval-based advanced military with by far the [[List of countries by military expenditures|highest military expenditure]] in the world.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm Military spending]</ref> The [[United States Navy]]
The cultural effect of the US, often known as [[Americanization]], is seen in the influence on other countries of US music, TV, films, art, and fashion, as well as the desire for [[freedom of speech]] and other guaranteed rights its residents enjoy. US pop stars such as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Michael Jackson]], and [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] have become global celebrities.<ref>Biddle, Julian (2001). ''What Was Hot!: Five Decades of Pop Culture in America''. New York: Citadel, p. ix. {{ISBN|0-8065-2311-5}}.</ref>
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Critics have condemned Luce's "[[Jingoism|jingoistic]] missionary zeal".<ref>Michael, Terry (February 16, 2011) [http://reason.com/archives/2011/02/16/the-end-of-the-american-centur The End of the American Century], ''[[Reason magazine|Reason]]''</ref> Others have noted the end of the 20th century and the American Century, most famously the late [[Gonzo journalism|gonzo]] journalist [[Hunter S. Thompson]] who titled his 2003 autobiography ''[[Kingdom of Fear (book)|Kingdom of Fear]]: Loathsome Secrets of a Star Crossed Child in the Last Days of the American Century''.
With the advent of the new [[millennium]], critics from the [[University of Illinois]] stated that it was a matter of debate whether the US was losing its superpower status, especially in relation to [[Chinese Century|China's rise]].<ref name="uiuc-superpower">
Other scholars, such as [[George Friedman]], stipulate that the 21st century will be the U.S. century: "The twenty-first century will be the American century."<ref>Friedman, George, [https://www.amazon.com/Next-100-Years-Forecast-Century/dp/038551705X/ ''The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century''], p. 18</ref>
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* [[Pax Americana]]
* [[American Empire Project]]
* [[American decline]]
* [[American exceptionalism]]
* [[American imperialism]]
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==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dunn |first=Dennis J. |title=Caught Between Roosevelt & Stalin: America's Ambassadors to Moscow |date=1998 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-2023-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hogan |first=Michael J. |title=The Ambiguous Legacy: U.S. Foreign Relations in The "American Century" |year=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-77019-4 |author-link=Michael Hogan (academic)}}<br>{{Small|A symposium of articles assessing aspects of Luce's editorial and its significance originally published in ''[[Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations|Diplomatic History]]'' '''23''' (2 & 3), 1999}}
* {{Citation |last=Karp |first=Walter |title=The Politics of War |year=1979 |publisher=Harper & Row |edition=1st |isbn=0-06-012265-X |oclc=4593327}}
* {{Citation |last1=Langer |first1=William L. |title=The Undeclared War 1940–1941: The World Crisis and American Foreign Policy |date=1953 |isbn=978-1258766986 |last2=Gleason |first2=S. Everett|publisher=Literary Licensing, LLC }}
* {{Citation |last=Northedge |first=FS |title=The League of Nations: Its Life and Times, 1920–1946 |date=1986 |publisher=Leicester University Press |isbn=0-7185-1316-9}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Painter |first=David S. |author-link=David S. Painter |date=2012 |title=Oil and the American Century |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=24–39 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jas073|doi-access=free }}
* {{Citation |last=Schmitz |first=David F. |title=Henry L. Stimson: The First Wise Man |date=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8420-2632-1}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Waltz |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Waltz |date=2002 |title=Reclaiming and Rebuilding the History of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=437–48 |doi=10.1080/01436590220138378 |jstor=3993535|s2cid=145398136 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Wohlstetter |first=Roberta |title=Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision |date=1962 |isbn=978-0-8047-0597-4 |author-link=Roberta Wohlstetter}}
* {{Cite book |last=Yoder |first=Amos |title=The Evolution of the United Nations System |date=1997 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=1-56032-546-1 |edition=3rd}}
{{Refend}}
==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Harold |title=The American Century |date=1998 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-679-41070-8}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Luce |first=Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0kEAAAAMBAJ&q=century |title=The American Century |date=February 17, 1941 |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |author-link=Henry Luce}}
* {{Cite web |last=Bacevich |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Bacevich |date=April 30, 2009 |title=Farewell to the American Century |url=http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/04/30/bacevich/print.html |website=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]}}
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