People who live in the United States, we call ourselves Americans, right?

Despite the fact that there are 34 other countries in North and South America,

when we refer to being Americans,

we sort of expect the world to not just understand what we mean,

but to accept that we are the real Americans

among two continents worth of also RANDS.

From KERA in Dallas, this is Think.

I'm Chris Boyd.

If all this were just a matter of naming privileges, it probably wouldn't be

that big a deal. But my guest sees a pattern, an unofficial but deeply consequential project he

refers to as Greater America, by which the United States assumes its preferred policies in countries

throughout North and South America are simply our prerogative.

Beatt Ton Wen, he is professor of literature at the University of Southern California.

His novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize

for Fiction in 2016.

His essay for the Nation is titled

Greater America has been exporting disunion for decades.

Beatt, welcome back to think.

Hi, Chris. Thanks for having me again.

So when you write about this project you refer to as Greater America, there's nothing

spelled out in so many words as a U.S. objective.

So what does Greater America aspire to?

...