I suppose there's never a non-timely place to read this book because it's been pretty relevant for decades.

But given Trump's recent protectionist actions, it's interesting to compare and contrast this early period of America trying to work out how to be the world hegemon and fuck over the Europeans but failing to be truly competent at imperialism (by not providing a way for other countries to earn dollars), and the current period. I do wonder if we're seeing the beginning of the return of the policies of the inter-war period, except because history isn't actually cyclical and global material conditions do develop, there's no way for America to industrialize, and obviously China and friends are generally on the ascension compared to Europe's fall from its world-spanning colonial empires to a mere major economic bloc.

While I was reading the chapter, I kept thinking that there's a similar degree of incompetency at imperial management, even if today's it's more "libertarian failsons who think that reducing government should also happen to key imperialist machinery", as well as the parallels with the rise of fascist governments in Germany, Italy, and Spain and today with places like Hungary.