“THE MULTITUDES remained plunged in ignorance… and their leaders, seeking their votes, did not dare to undeceive them.” So wrote Winston Churchill of the victors of the first world war in “The Gathering Storm.” He bitterly recalled a “refusal to face unpleasant facts, desire for popularity and electoral success irrespective of the vital interests of the state.
Does Britain’s experience help us understand the future of American power? Americans prefer to draw lessons from the United States’ history, but it may be more illuminating to compare the country to its predecessor as an Anglophone global hegemon, for America today in many ways resembles Britain in the interwar period.
So many books and articles predicting American decline have been written in recent decades that “declinism” has become a cliché. But Britain’s experience between the 1930s and the 1950s is a reminder that there are worse fates than gentle, gradual decline.Start with the mountains of debt. Britain’s public debt after the first world war rose from 109% of GDP in 1918 to just under 200% in 1934. America’s federal debt is different in important ways, but it is comparable in magnitude.
Britain’s decision in 1925 to return sterling to the gold standard at the overvalued pre-war price condemned Britain to eight years of deflation. The increased power of trade unions meant that wage cuts lagged behind price cuts during the depression. This contributed to job losses. At the nadir in 1932, the unemployment rate was 15%. Yet Britain’s depression was mild, not least because abandoning the gold standard in 1931 allowed the easing of monetary policy.
It may seem fanciful to suggest that America faces comparable threats today—not only from China, but also from Russia, Iran and North Korea. Yet the mere fact that it seems fanciful illustrates the point. The majority of Americans, like the majority of Britons between the wars, simply do not want to contemplate the possibility of a major war against one or more authoritarian regimes, coming on top of the country’s already extensive military commitments.
What does he know. For currently under employed contractors it is essential . And they make the agenda. Via the GOP. Obviously.
Biden’s weakness fuels enemy opportunities & his ineptitude leads to wrong decisions. War is a greater risk under Biden.
퍼거슨은 역사학자로서 책임감 없는 발언을 하고 있다. 왜 제국주의적 태도의 방기가 세계혼란을 가져올거라고 선동 왜곡발언을 하는가.
Indeed, the fall of empires is never pretty, the power vacuums left rarely subside into peace. But I am not sure the American empire is falling, all empires have setbacks, huge failures in war or policy, the long term empires adjust, adapt and recover.
Blowhard
The fact that anyone would want an American 'empire' is just awful. I'm going to need people to get a whole grip.
taiwan
All empires end. Most of them should. Still a lot of choices and possibilities ahead. We would be way better off if these extremist on each side would shut up. Also, our political system is trash, that doesn't help. They keep you divided so you cannot stand together against them.
Abandoning billions of dollars worth of weapons to the Taliban the way Joe Biden did is bound to create another war.
I know we don't negotiate with Terrorists...but can we trade Biden for ALL the Americans STILL in Afghanistan?
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