The Empire Trap: The Rise and Fall of U.S. Intervention to Protect American Property Overseas, 1893-2013

The Empire Trap is a groundbreaking book that reveals how the United States became an imperial power through its willingness to defend its citizens' overseas investments.

Noel Maurer sheds light on the ways American investors influenced their government to intercede in locations such as Central America and the Caribbean, with costs that were initially small but grew increasingly entangled with the goals of those they were backing.

Despite failing to resist pressure to defend American investments and unsuccessful at altering internal institutions of other countries, the U.S.

government continued to employ economic sanctions or covert action to obtain market value or more in compensation.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of how modern U.S.

involvement in the empire business began and how American foreign policy became increasingly tied to private financial interests.