Actually it's over a100 years.
en.wikipedia.org
My computer won't let me access that link.
I am sure there have been wars we got sucked into because it started to screw with our nation's trade allies throughout the last 100+years, but I am saying it wasn't us acting like 'cops'.
Information sucked back then to the public, but I sure as shit wouldn't have preferred whatever you all were doing prior to WW1 spreading.
All the colony shit was something we said no thank you to, and when it went tits up, is when we ended up getting involved.
Feel free to school me on this, because I was a crap student back in the days I had history classes, so I could be wrong.