Is the USA a de facto imperialist?

As of 5 years ago, the US had military bases in more than 700 nations around the globe. Why is that? There are no more Soviets. Having military bases in someone’s back yard so to speak is kind of like having a made member of the MOB working at your plant. You know no one will never try to rob the place because they do not want to tangle with ”the Family”, but it also give the Godfather a hook to influence how much juice you will have to pay. With what can be seen as a de facto garrison stationed in a nation you can ”persuade” them to follow your lead less that garrison be used against the sitting government because they all of a sudden made the hostile list, and a new puppet set up depended on US aid. Even though it is not an all out occupational influence, having bases or a footprint in so many nations equal de facto imperialism?