I don't have a detailed analysis or anything, but I always feel that the prior generations of imperialists, especially the immediate post-WWII, had a vision for the planet - total capitalist hegemony under the direction of the US government - and worked hard on a plan to implement it. Those planners were practical, intelligent, and willing to get their hands dirty. They projected one image of themselves - global liberators fighting against tyranny - while knowingly advancing their project in favor of the capitalists. The current generation, who grew up underneath them but not nestled in those highest places of power, bought into the image projected without understanding the reality of its operation or how it was established. They swallowed the cognitive dissonance and believed it entirely, so now they the simple act of military violence as synonymous with "freedom". They have no grasp of how the empire actually operates, they aren't advanced through anything like a meritocracy, and they can't distinguish between their own propaganda and the truth.
It really does seem more and more likely that the current crop of "leadership" in the west believes their own bullshit that they peddle to the masses for sure. A big part of it is probably the collapse of the USSR, they pre-emptively declared "victory" and haven't really bothered to maintain their imperialist project in a sustainable way because they assume there are no (or weren't even aware of) any alternatives. This would explain a lot of their actions towards China. Both begging China to help them out and also putting tariffs on them and interfering with Taiwan. They honestly seem to think that the "lesser countries" are obligated to do what the west demands and the west can just destroy them automatically. There's a similar situation with Russia there too, they assumed that their embargoes would destroy Russia because they are the wealthy and powerful west, so cutting off trade with them destroys economies. But they didn't actually bother to check what Russia's reaction would be and whether they could survive just fine without western trade. Just pure arrogance and chauvinism.
I don't have a detailed analysis or anything, but I always feel that the prior generations of imperialists, especially the immediate post-WWII, had a vision for the planet - total capitalist hegemony under the direction of the US government - and worked hard on a plan to implement it. Those planners were practical, intelligent, and willing to get their hands dirty. They projected one image of themselves - global liberators fighting against tyranny - while knowingly advancing their project in favor of the capitalists. The current generation, who grew up underneath them but not nestled in those highest places of power, bought into the image projected without understanding the reality of its operation or how it was established. They swallowed the cognitive dissonance and believed it entirely, so now they the simple act of military violence as synonymous with "freedom". They have no grasp of how the empire actually operates, they aren't advanced through anything like a meritocracy, and they can't distinguish between their own propaganda and the truth.
It really does seem more and more likely that the current crop of "leadership" in the west believes their own bullshit that they peddle to the masses for sure. A big part of it is probably the collapse of the USSR, they pre-emptively declared "victory" and haven't really bothered to maintain their imperialist project in a sustainable way because they assume there are no (or weren't even aware of) any alternatives. This would explain a lot of their actions towards China. Both begging China to help them out and also putting tariffs on them and interfering with Taiwan. They honestly seem to think that the "lesser countries" are obligated to do what the west demands and the west can just destroy them automatically. There's a similar situation with Russia there too, they assumed that their embargoes would destroy Russia because they are the wealthy and powerful west, so cutting off trade with them destroys economies. But they didn't actually bother to check what Russia's reaction would be and whether they could survive just fine without western trade. Just pure arrogance and chauvinism.