George W. Bush has fundamentally changed America's place in the world. In some neo-conservative circles the word 'empire' is back in fashion, and a great republic that broke away from the British empire is now supposed to be proud of its new imperial role. This book explains how the neo-conservatives and the petro-military complex have hijacked US foreign policy. It examines the price that Americans will have to pay for this new era of unlimited US military might - a never ending fear of terrorism; mushrooming defence and security spending; the erosion of civil liberties at home and the deaths abroad of tens of thousands of civilians and military combatants.

At the heart of this disturbing and timely book is the ultimate question. Previous empires have foundered on the rock of imperial overstretch - the costs of trying to run and protect empires eventually outstripping the capacity and willingness of the citizenry to pay for them. Is the US in danger of going down that road? Who around George 'Dubya' Bush is pushing him along that path?

Roger Burbach is Director of Research and Publication at the Center for the Study of the Americas (CENSA) in Berkeley, California. A historian by training, he was for a number of years a staff member and writer with NACLA, the North American Congress on Latin America. During the 1990s he was Visiting Scholar in Peace and Conflict Studies, and subsequently at the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of numerous books, including most recently The Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice (Zed Books, 2003), Globalization and Postmodern Politics: Zapatistas versus High Tech Robber Barons (2001) and Globalize This! The Battle against the World Trade Organization (2000) (edited with Kevin Danaher). He coauthored with Orlando Noez Fire in the Americas (1987).

Jim Tarbell is a writer and broadcaster based in Northern California. Following spells as a staffer for Congressman Wendell Wyatt (1968-72) and Peace Corps volunteer (1973-75), he founded his own publishing house, Ridge Times Press, in 1981. Amongst many other activities, he is now the editor of the Alliance for Democracy quarterly journal Alliance Alerts, and co-hosts a radio programme on KZYX called Corporations and Democracy. He is the author of a previous book, I Came Not Alone (1994), which tells of ordinary people's experiences of globalization in Latin America, and is currently working on a new book, Democracy versus Empire.