Only in your mind. Being a successful country, with a strong economy and strong military does not make that country and Empire. Not even close
When the successful country has 170,000 active-duty servicemen and women stationed in 150 foreign countries and its dollar serves as a global reserve currency, it is as much of an empire as Rome, although its methods of receiving taxation and tribute are different:
Trade Deficits And The American Empire
"As other nations need U.S. dollars to buy oil and other imports, they also need to hold U.S. dollars as foreign currency reserves.
"The simplest way to acquire dollars is to sell goods and services to the U.S. while accepting dollars (which will never be used to purchase American goods) in payment.
"Looking at the flow of goods and services, we can easily detect a pattern of tributary states sending treasure to the imperial power.
"Oil from the Middle East, electronics and apparel from East Asia, minerals from Africa, tropical fruits from Latin America and automobiles and automobile parts from Canada, Mexico and the E.U. all flow into the U.S. from around the world in exchange for dollars which will henceforth be used only outside the U.S.
"As I wrote in a previous column,
the U.S. is the only country in the world able to write cheques (issue dollars) which will never be cashed (used to purchase American goods and services)."