alt Hacker News> The borders were continuously shifting, but they did stay somewhat near a focal point for centuries.
Ok? They were still an imperial power. Having a stable border for a little while doesn't affect that definition.
> The US meanwhile has an overseas empire for honestly no good reason.
Not entirely whataboutism from my part (in my opinion), the thread above was talking about China and US imperialism in (now deleted) comments. It's not like I brought in the US out of nowhere although it looks that way due to deleted comments.
Same for the first part you're commenting on, that was in direct response to the thread.