> As much as I am critical of the US, until now the US did behave very differently from other superpowers. Consider the end of WWII. The US did not inflict reparations on the vanquished nations but rather, invested huge sums in their rebuilding, in the process making stalwart allies of them.

That is also how Rome routinely dealt with the border tribes that it defeated. It's not a new idea. That's just what superpowers do.