Can the U.S. Brace Its Fall?

Analysis by Jim Lobe



WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (IPS) – “Is the American era over?” That was the big question that launched a lengthy analysis by veteran international affairs reporter James Kitfield in the influential ‘National Journal’ last May. Significantly, the article — which featured interviews with an all-star cast of former top U.S. policy-makers — was titled “The Decline Begins.”

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What a difference five years and an invasion and bungled occupation of Iraq make! References to the Roman Empire at this point are more likely to refer to its decline than to its power — an observation confirmed even by Donald Kagan, a dean of neo-conservatism and Kennedy’s colleague at Yale, whose sons, Robert and Frederick, have been champions of the Bush Doctrine and the Iraq War.

“I’ve argued that not since the Roman Empire has anyone had such extraordinary power as the United States after the Cold War,” Kagan told Kitfield. “But all of the elements of our strength are now being challenged, and it’s perfectly possible that we are seeing a relative decline in U.S. power that will prove lasting.”

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