Publisher Description

In 1975, Emmanuel Todd predicted the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, drawing on research from cultural anthropology and demography as well as economics. At the time his findings challenged a conventional wisdom that saw in the Communist world a dynamic and growing challenge to the West. Generations of Kremlinologists may not have known much, but they knew that Todd was wrong - until 1989, that is, when conventional wisdom retired hurt. Now Todd returns to the debate on the future of international power relations with another startling prediction. Far from being at the apogee of its power, the United States of America is now locked in the messy and disruptive logic of decline. Because the world has long relied on America as a source of stability, it is now desperately important for us to find a way to contain the shock waves from America's impending collapse as the sole superpower. This is not a book from an anti-American, and you will not find a smooth recitation of the standard arguments of Left or Right. It is that unfashionable thing - a determined and unembarrassed attempt to tell the truth.

Notes

The author who foresaw the collapse of the Soviet Union makes his predictions for the United States, suggesting its impending collapse as the sole superpower.

Review

A powerful antidote to hysterical exaggeration of American power and potential by American triumphalists and anti-American polemicists alike. - Michael Lind, author of Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Takeover of American PoliticsI would recommend this extraordinary book to everyone troubled by US neo-imperialism . . . this is a brave and challenging book which contains a great deal of truth. - Clare Short, MP

Promotional

The American Empire is in crisis - and its death throes threaten to engulf us all

Long Description

In 1975, Emmanuel Todd predicted the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, drawing on research from cultural anthropology and demography as well as economics. At the time his findings challenged a conventional wisdom that saw in the Communist world a dynamic and growing challenge to the West. Generations of Kremlinologists may not have known much, but they knew that Todd was wrong - until 1989, that is, when conventional wisdom retired hurt. Now Todd returns to the debate on the future of international power relations with another startling prediction. Far from being at the apogee of its power, the United States of America is now locked in the messy and disruptive logic of decline. Because the world has long relied on America as a source of stability, it is now desperately important for us to find a way to contain the shock waves from America's impending collapse as the sole superpower. This is not a book from an anti-American, and you will not find a smooth recitation of the standard arguments of Left or Right. It is that unfashionable thing - a determined and unembarrassed attempt to tell the truth.

Review Quote

A powerful antidote to hysterical exaggeration of American power and potential by American triumphalists and anti-American polemicists alike.

Promotional "Headline"

The American Empire is in crisis - and its death throes threaten to engulf us all

Details