American imperialism consists of policies aimed at extending the political, economic, and cultural influence of the United States over areas beyond its boundaries, specifically considering the Marxist definition of imperialism as originally defined by Lenin.
Doctrines followed (and sometimes proposed by the U.S. government itself since its inception) such as Manifest Destiny, Monroe and his Roosevelt Chorolary, the Great Stick, the National Security Doctrine, etc. and events such as the conquest of the West, the Mexican war, the banana wars, the Spanish-Cuban-American war and, more recently, the Vietnam War, the U.S. blockade against Cuba, the war in Afghanistan, etc. have made "American imperialism" a term accepted by the greater part of the international community.