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THERE is a near constant discussion of the current state of the 'American Empire'.[1] The US is now the global superpower, having taken on that role in World War II, largely as the UK's replacement.[2] Additionally, like any imperial power the US is allegedly now being extended too far, such as in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
This article examines the history and political status of a territory acquired in an earlier US push to global power: the former Spanish colony of Puerto Rico. This is now a 'free associated state' or a 'commonwealth' within the US (the only territory with that political relationship with the US). But some claim that it is just an American colony. Meanwhile, for many Americans the territory's status remains hazy.
The territory is probably most well known because of the musical and film West Side Story (a remake of Romeo and Juliet set in a New York City centring on a Puerto Rican gang). This classic production is now well over four decades old but it remains very popular. It has a theme that resonates through the ages: young people want to be in love and not to be bothered by the squabbles of older people and their traditional feuds. Ironically history hangs heavily over Puerto Rico.
The story of how the US acquired it is in itself a study of the US's reinventing itself in international politics. Puerto Rico was taken from Spain in 1898 in the final stages of the four-hundred-year-old Spanish empire. Having acquired it in the Spanish-American War, the US has not been sure what to do with it and there are continuing debates over its future political status. Meanwhile, the territory is connected to other controversies in US domestic politics.
The author of one popular book on the territory has pointed out: 'Within American jurisdiction, as reflected in a common citizenship, flag, currency, and numerous applicable Federal laws, Puerto Rico often seems in everything but name a State of the Union. And on the other side of the dichotomy, [it has] a culture and society profoundly different from that of the mainland'.[3] For example, if Puerto Rico were to become a full State within the Union then it would be the country's...