Is the united states in decline?
Based on Joseph S.Nye, “The Future of American Power”, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2010, and Immanuel Wallerstein, “Precipitate Decline: The Advent of Multipolarity, “Harvard International Review, Spring 2007.
Joseph S. Nye and Immanuel Wallerstein are both theorists in International Relations. If Nye is known for his notion of “smart power” (which is used in the excerpt), Wallerstein is rather known for being a sociologist and a world-systems analyst. Both texts deal with the idea of a hypothetical American decline, which is a recurring topic when discussing about the world stage nowadays. Joseph S. Nye has a rather optimistic point of view about the matter. Yet he tries to warn the American leaders who would try to act before thinking. According to him, one should not put the emphasis on this decline knowing that it would encourage some countries (such as China) to “adventurous policies”. Indeed, Nye argues that the United States should remain the most powerful state in the world for the next few decades and that it has no interest in reacting too quickly. However he admits that this domination will be relatively less important than in the past and that the United States will have to accept the help of other countries if it wants to achieve its future goals. That, according to Nye, will only be possible through “smart power” that will allow the construction of alliances and networks between states. Wallerstein on the other hand acknowledges the idea of the American decline, but reminds the readers that this decline didn’t actually begin with the war in Iraq but during the seventies. Indeed, the United States became a major power after the Civil War until the beginning of their decline one century later. The fall of the USSR, contrary to popular believes has been “a major blow” to US power, and the war in Iraq just accentuated the process. According to him, they became the first economic power of the globe after the Second World