It has long been said that "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." This so-called “duck test” implies that you can identify a subject by observing its characteristics. Based on this standard assessment, we can then ask: Is the United States an empire? The answer, according to the duck test, is a pretty definitive yes. However, a nation is more complex than a simple duck and so I believe there is merit in arguing that applying this label to the United States can sometimes be inappropriate and careless. For this reason, I lean more towards the thesis that the United States is not actually an empire, but rather a hegemony that is too often mislabeled. In order to fully critique and analyze these opposing arguments, I will define the term “empire,” then identify, compare, and contrast the assertions of each position. The terms in question are often used interchangeably, but are at the same time drastically different from each other; each brings with it its own implications and complexities. “Empire has a territorial dimension and implies control over subjects” while the term hegemony “refers to more informal means of persuasion and subjugation of other actors on the international scene. Empire is a more realist and military system, while hegemony is more liberal and institutional” (Grondin et al., 2006: p. 217). Often, "When the term 'empire' is used to refer to the American role, it refers to an informal hierarchical structure." This is to say that “empire simply means a hierarchical system of political relations in which one power is clearly much stronger than any other” (Keohane, 1991: p.437). The biggest problem that arises from defining empire this way is... ....middle of paper ......discussing this difficult topic. Of course we can use the duck test to determine whether or not the United States resembles an empire and behaves like an empire - perhaps even leading us to the conclusion that it does in fact have these characteristics - but this merely scratches the surface of this complex question. To truly analyze this concept, we must go “beyond incidental observation and look at the big historical picture” (Grondin et al., 2006: p. 219). While this debate will never lead to a definitive answer, based on an understanding of America's position and power within the international community both in the present and in the past, I firmly believe that characterizing America as an "empire" is inappropriate is hyperbolic and should only be used as a situational description rather than an indefinite statement.