The decline of the American "empire" has been a persistent theme of the punditocracy these past several years, with the underlying logic being Washington's inability to extend, ad infinitum, the primacy seemingly conferred upon it at Cold War's end. The global financial crisis has now further revealed a suddenly -- and stunningly -- rebalanced global order, and as a result, Americans are supposed to dread the vast uncertainties of our allegedly "post-American world."
Read the entire column at World Politics Review.
Monday, February 21, 2011 at 8:51AM 
Reader Comments (4)
I am making one of my regular pilgrimages to the WWII museum in New Orleans. It never ceases to amaze me. We built the most powerful military machine the world had ever seen. We did things that no previous military had ever thought possible. And we didn't get a single colony out of it. Some empire.
Tom, great WISDOM; one of your very best!
It reminded me of Kissinger talking with Charlie Rose recently. I sure hope many of our elected & appointed leaders in Washington absorb this.Strategic guidance & foreign policy at its best! Congratulations!
It's sad that your common-sense foreign policy paradigm doesn't reach larger crowds. Everyone is stuck in false dichotomy (primacy or decay). It is refreshing to see some views that underscore some novel (or maybe old but forgotten) ideas of what American system means. As someone young (member of "lost generation" as recently nyt called us) and living in static eastern European country, your ideas really give me more optimism in our future. I'm still suprised how your message is not more popular worldwide. We definitely need this kind of outlook. (i guess 2012 apocalypse is more marketable :-)).
(sorry for bad English)
Another impression from my recent visit to the WWII museum FDR rarely referred to US forces or even the "allies" when talking about the progress of the war. He preferred the term "United Nations" to convey the idea that the war against Fascism was something that was pursued on a joint basis, not by the US alone or even by the US primarily. Nor did FDR seem to be obsessed with the idea of primacy. I was struck by the fact that of the 7 commanders planning the D-Day invasion, 4 were Brits and 3 were Americans. Eisenhower saw no need to stack the command with Americans. The US interest in primacy was a very dangerous temptation after the Cold War, and the sooner we turn away from it, the better.