How the 'declining US empire' can avoid total collapse: author

04 September 2023

In their new book, "Why Empires Fall: Rome, America, and the Future of the West," authors John Rapley and Peter Heather delve into history and draw some parallels between Ancient Rome and the modern West — including the United States.

The Roman Empire was a political powerhouse in its heyday, but it suffered a devastating downfall. And the book stresses that it's foolish to automatically assume that the United States' influence will remain.

In an essay/op-ed published by the New York Times on Labor Day 2023, however, Rapley argues that the United States' "decline" can be reversed.

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After World War 2, Rapley notes, the U.S. and its allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to "provide a security umbrella."

"Over the second half of the century, this system attained a degree of world domination no previous empire had ever known," Rapley explains. "In the past two decades, however, it has sunk into decline. At the turn of the millennium, the western world accounted for four-fifths of global economic output. Today, that share is down to three-fifths, and falling…. From this view, it can seem that the United States is following the course of all empires: doomed to decline and eventual fall."

Rapley continues, "America, it's true, will never again enjoy the degree of global economic and political domination it exercised in the decades after the War. But it can, with the right choices, look forward to a future where it remains the world's pre-eminent nation."

The author argues that the U.S. can enjoy strong economic growth in the future but won't accomplish that "through a go-it-alone, America First approach."

"It was the same impulse that pushed the Roman Empire into the military adventurism that brought about its eventual destruction," Rapley explains. "The world economy has changed, and the United States will never again be able to dominate the planet as it once did. But the possibility of building a new world out of a coalition of the like-minded is a luxury Rome never had. America, whatever it calls itself, should seize the opportunity."

Find John Rapley's full New York Times essay/op-ed at this link.

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