Others have already given adequate answers, but another angle from which to view the US is as the very core of the imperial core. You can’t maintain that level of global imperialism and a kayfabe democracy at the same time without massive amounts of propaganda and the suppression of any effective left-wing organizing. The most impressive part is that most USians don’t think they’re even being propagandized.

• List of Atrocities committed by US authorities
• A Detailed Chronological List of US Interventions, Invasions, Destabilzations, and Assistance to Oppressive Regimes (ending in 2002)
• The U.S. Did Not Defeat Fascism in WWII, It Discretely Internationalized It
• Shock therapy (economics)
• World Incarceration Rates If Every U.S. State Were A Country
• Infographic: US military presence around the world The US controls about 750 bases in at least 80 countries worldwide and spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined.
• Are We The Baddies?
• Michael Parenti: Africa is Rich