Expansionism

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In general, expansionism consists of expansionist policies of governments and states. While some have linked the term to promoting economic growth (in contrast to no growth / sustainable policies), more commonly expansionism refers to the doctrine of a nation's expanding its territorial base (or economic influence) usually, though not necessarily, by means of military aggression. Compare empire-building and Lebensraum.

Irredentism, revanchism or reunification are sometimes used to justify and legitimize expansionism, but only when the explicit goal is to reconquer territories that have been lost, or to take over ancestral lands. A simple territorial dispute, such as a border dispute, is not usually referred to as expansionism.

Geographic enlargement of the United States has been classed as expansionism; geographic enlargement of the European Union has not, perhaps because the EU is viewed as an organization rather than nation, despite the centralization of some governmental functions in the organs of the EU.

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Expansionism".