American Empire and the Fourth World

Book excerpt: In The American Empire and the Fourth World Anthony Hall presents a sweeping analysis of encounters between indigenous people and the European empires, national governments, and global corporations on the moving frontiers of globalization since Columbus "discovered America." How should we respond to the emergence of the United States as the military, commercial, and cultural centre of a global empire? How can we elaborate a global rule of law based on equality and democracy when the world's most powerful polity acknowledges no higher authority in the international arena than its own domestic priorities? For Hall the answer lies in the concept of the Fourth World, an inclusive intellectual tent covering a wide range of movements whose leaders seek to implement alternative views of globalization. Larger than any earlier political movement, the Fourth World embraces basic principles that include the inherent rights of self-determination and a more just approach to the crafting and enforcement of international law.