September 20, 2001 The Crisis of Democracy and the Quest for Empire. The president of the United States has committed his country to goals that will require world hegemony, not to say supremacy. In numerous speeches and statements since September 2001, President Bush has vowed to wage an exhaustive, final war on terror and to advance the cause of a better world. ‘‘Our responsibility to history is clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil.’’1 In the president’s opinion, the United States represents universal principles. He summarizes them in the word ‘‘freedom.’’