Traveling in the former Soviet Union, one wonders how a Superpower can unravel so quickly. The Soviet Union was in fact one of the world's most powerful states for close to fifty years. Today it is no more. The former republics have now become independent and even the Russian Federation seems to be unraveling. Could such a thing happen to the United States? Lately, Americans have become increasingly despondent about the future of their country. People talk about the decline of the dollar and the collapse of the economy. If America's economy collapsed and its power declined, supplanted by China and Europe, could the United States actually dissolve?

Most Americans look at their country as an organic whole. The American continent at the outset doesn't seem to resemble an empire like the Russia. Its former inhabitants, the American Indians, are so few in number in relation to the nation's population of almost three hundred million, that they are to most people nothing more than a historical curiosity, a relic of a bygone age. America, overall seems to be a remarkably united country, with little of the internal divisions that characterize countries in the Old World. America doesn't seem to have a Chechnya or an Uzbekistan, regions that have a strong national or regional identity.

Or does it?

Students of history know that few states of America were actually independent countries, recognized diplomatically by foreign powers. The US gradually expanded westward exercising its authority over the continent inhabited by Indians who were considered nations, but the land itself was deemed property of the US or other European powers. Texas was formerly an independent republic but later absorbed into the United States in the middle of the 19th century. Texas was formerly part of Mexico, and the American settlers of Texas fought a war with American aid against Mexico for its independence.

Hawaii is a different story. Hawaii was a recognized sovereign state through out most of the 19th century. Towards the end of the 19th century, American settlers and businessmen led a coup that overthrew the Queen and monarchy of Hawaii. It was around this time, that America became interested in becoming an Asian power and acquired the Philippines from the Spanish. Hawaii was considered a necessary base for American military vessels traveling in the Pacific on route to the Philippines and China. It is no coincidence therefore that the United States made Hawaii a territory of the United States at the same time that the Philippines were occupied.

Although Americans toyed with the idea of keeping the Philippines as American territory, they eventually granted it independence after World War II. But they kept military bases on the islands to enable them to extend their power to the Asian mainland. The Philippines were unique in that way having become territory of the United States that achieved independence.

Hawaii was also a territory like Alaska until the middle of the twentieth century. Indeed the US submitted annual reports to the UN decolonization office about the status of Hawaii. Then congress made Hawaii a state.

Hawaii resembles the rest of the United States in many ways. It has a similar infrastructure and monetary system. But it maintains a separate regional and perhaps national identity. Most residents of Hawaii are Asian. Native born Hawaiians tend to look down on outsiders from the mainland. The islands have no physical contiguity with the United States. In deed, some say that the United States absorbed Hawaii out of fear that the Japanese, a rapidly expanding power in the 19th century, would use its numerous settlers in Hawaii to take over the islands for itself.

In the Hawaii of today there are nationalist or sovereignty movements that claim that the US annexation of Hawaii was an illegal act. They demand an independent Hawaiian nation and self determination for its people. The following organizations are entertaining examples: http://www.hawaii-nation.org and http://www.hawaiiankingdom.org.

America controls other areas that have distinct national identities Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and New York(just kidding). All of these area could easily become independent of the US one day. What about the rest of the US? Since the Civil War, US law has been in favor of an inseparable union of the states. The period from the end of the Civil War till the present has been marked by the ascent of American power. Should US power drastically decline, the loss of power is likely to affect the polices of the Supreme Court and Congress, two bodies that are responsible for holding our great country together and are largely influenced by social and economic forces.



09:05:28 May 23rd 2005 - : Hawaii - American Forever
You are correct in noting, "Since the Civil War, US law has been in favor of an inseparable union of the states." As Hawaii is a state, it is American as long as the Union is in existence. Despite Hawaiian separatist fantasies to the contrary, international law supports the American ownership of Hawaii. There is no legal Hawaiian Kingdom currently. It is indeed in the Union.You are also correct in noting that Puerto Rico and American Samoa may be able to gain independence. As long as they are territories, independence is an option. If they every vote to join the Union as Hawaii did (and are accepted) they will be American forever. - Michael