This is why I think that while countries are an important unit of analysis, proper categorizing of core, periphery, and semi-periphery needs to be more fine grained too.
The US definitely is part of the imperial core, and indeed is the hegemon of the capitalist-imperialist world system. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t peripheral and semi peripheral parts of the US.
This is why I think that while countries are an important unit of analysis, proper categorizing of core, periphery, and semi-periphery needs to be more fine grained too.
The US definitely is part of the imperial core, and indeed is the hegemon of the capitalist-imperialist world system. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t peripheral and semi peripheral parts of the US.
It’s the correct analytical framework for understanding the modern imperial capitalism that ignores national borders