The policy, practice, or advocacy of extending a state's power and influence over other territories — through military conquest, economic domination, or political control — and the theoretical tradition that analyzes and contests the dynamics, justifications, and legacies of imperial expansion.
Imperialism is the concept that connects the economic dynamics of capitalism to the political dynamics of empire — and the framework through which much of the modern world's political geography, its inequalities, and its conflicts can be understood. The word was a term of pride for some and of accusation for others, and remains both.