A City Upon a Crumbling Hill? Series on the Future of U.S. Leadership, January 2013

Interrogations on a possible decline of U.S. leadership are a regular occurrence in the country.

The current debate mobilizes the traditional issues of the enemy (today, China), and of “imperial overstretch,” after over ten years of unsatisfactory military operations. However, this time, domestic concerns are of equal prevalence, with strong economic difficulties remaining and a seemingly unresolvable political polarization. Is the United States undergoing a real decline today, or is this just another episode from which the country will emerge with its usual resilience?

This paper is published in French only: Le débat décliniste aux Etats-Unis

Keywords

great powers United States