On the point of globalization, its not as if globalization is something that "the US does to the world" ~ its something that transnational corporations do to the world by winning their preferred policies.

Isn't it though?  That's really the question.  Could globalization actually have ever existed without US global domination? There is a falsifiable way of answering that question, if there is sufficient historical data.  If I'm right, an analysis of trade or other transnational relationships during the last globalization period of a century ago should show that more of the trade and relationships occurred within the spheres of influence of the various empires and less occurred between empires.  While today the relationships should be more spread out because its largely under one empire.