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In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power (Dispatch Books) Kindle Edition
The award-winning historian delivers a “brilliant and deeply informed” analysis of American power from the Spanish-American War to the Trump Administration (New York Journal of Books).
In this sweeping and incisive history of US foreign relations, historian Alfred McCoy explores America’s rise as a world power from the 1890s through the Cold War, and its bid to extend its hegemony deep into the twenty-first century. Since American dominance reached its apex at the close of the Cold War, the nation has met new challenges that it is increasingly unequipped to handle.
From the disastrous invasion of Iraq to the failure of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, fracturing military alliances, and the blundering nationalism of Donald Trump, McCoy traces US decline in the face of rising powers such as China. He also offers a critique of America’s attempt to maintain its position through cyberwar, covert intervention, client elites, psychological torture, and worldwide surveillance.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHaymarket Books
- Publication dateSeptember 12, 2017
- File size4360 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
In the Shadows of the American Century persuasively argues for the inevitable decline of the American empire and the rise of China. Whether or not one is a believer in American power, the case that Alfred McCoy makes—that much of America’s decline is due to its own contradictions and failures—is a sad one. He provides a glimmer of hope that America can ease into the role of a more generous, more collaborative, if less powerful, world player. Let’s hope that Americans will listen to his powerful arguments." —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the Sympathizer
“[A] brilliant and deeply informed must-read for anyone seriously interested in geopolitics, the history of Empire, and the shape of the future.” —New York Journal of Books
"What is the character of this American empire?" Alfred McCoy asks at the outset of this provocative study. His answer not only limns the contours of the American imperium as it evolved during the twentieth century, but explains why its days are quite likely numbered. This is history with profound relevance to events that are unfolding before our eyes.
—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History
"Alfred McCoy offers a meticulous, eye-opening account of the rise, since 1945, and impending premature demise of the American Century of world domination. As the empire’s political, economic, and military strategies unravel under cover of secrecy, America’s neglected citizens would do well to read this book."—Ann Jones, author of They Were Soldiers
"Sobering reading for geopolitics mavens and Risk aficionados alike..." —Kirkus
"McCoy’s detailed, panoramic analysis of the past, present, and future of the American empire covers all spheres of activity including not just land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace, but also the netherworld of covert operations--and seasons all of this with some fascinating personal vignettes. His new book, The Shadows of the American Century, joins the essential short list of scrupulous historical and comparative studies of the United States as an awesome, conflicted, technologically innovative, routinely atrocious, and ultimately hubristic imperial power."—John Dower, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Embracing Defeat, War Without Mercy, and The Violent American Century
“One of our best and most underappreciated historians takes a hard look at the truth of our empire, both its covert activities and the reasons for its impending decline,” —Oliver Stone
"In the Shadows of the American Century is a valuable contribution to geopolitical discourse that draws
important lessons from history."—Foreword Reviews
"McCoy’s latest book, In the Shadow of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power, provides an autopsy on a dying empire, which has squandered its moral capital by promoting wide-scale torture and mass surveillance....The end of empire scenarios relayed by McCoy in dark terms could in turn provide positive opportunities for societal change as the necessity for constant war is removed." —The Progressive
About the Author
Alfred McCoy holds the Harrington Chair in History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His 2009 book Policing America's Empire won the Kahin Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. In 2012, Yale University awarded him the Wilbur Cross Medal for work as "one of the world's leading historians of Southeast Asia and an expert on...international political surveillance."
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine "Best Of" Awards and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards. He has also been nominated for an Audie Award. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University.
Product details
- ASIN : B06XPQWT6Q
- Publisher : Haymarket Books (September 12, 2017)
- Publication date : September 12, 2017
- Language : English
- File size : 4360 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 611 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #585,618 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #336 in 21st Century History of the U.S.
- #483 in International Relations (Kindle Store)
- #782 in Political History (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Alfred W. McCoy holds the Harrington chair of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he teaches classes on the Vietnam War, modern empires, and U.S. foreign policy. Most recently, he is the author of "In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power" (Chicago, 2017). He is also the author of "Policing America's Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State" (Madison, 2009) which won the Kahin Prize from the Association for Asian Studies.
His best known book, "The Politics of Heroin," stirred controversy when the C.I.A. tried to block its publication back in 1972, but it has remained in print for nearly 50 years, been translated into nine languages, and is generally regarded as the "classic" work on global drug trafficking.
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Here, Dr. McCoy's main thesis is that the American Century will likely come to a close before it reaches its 100th birthday. If we take the end of World War II as the beginning of this American Century, then the period of American world dominance will not last until 2044. Most often, Dr. McCoy cites the year 2030 as the year when China is likely to surpass the United States in terms of World Power.
Certainly, there are signs already that American power is in decline. Recent events in the Middle East, in particular, reveal Russia to be a more effective player in International Politics than the United States. Syria, Russia's ally, is on the way to defying all odds and to weathering the storm of "regime change" once heralded for it by neoconservative think tank toadies in the United States. This is a startling new development in a region that had been a true sphere of influence for the United States for many long years.
McCoy cites the absurd American Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as the beginning of the end of American dominance. And this is a very fair proposition. The United States wasted a gargantuan amount of blood and treasure in these two conflicts, to no evident avail. Even now, President Trump is attempting to negotiate an exit from the Afghanistan graveyard of empires. And it is not proving easy for the "Great Deal Maker". (Are you tired of winning yet, America?)
Now, we must admit the difficulty in assessing the relative power of nations until such nations take the drastic step of going to war. Fortunately, there are ways of assessing this relative power short of armed conflict. As a former US Navy Officer, I was always an avid consumer of Jane's Fighting Ships and their other excellent publications that assessed the war fighting capabilities of the various nations. However, the reality is that this analysis is purely a technological one. Now, a warship at sea is the most complex form of social interdependence known to man. The lives of each man in the crew literally depend on the effective performance of duty of each other man. So, a pure technological assessment can not reveal true war fighting capabilities. Leadership and the quality of the crew matter a great deal.
Political Scientist A F K Organski of the University of Michigan gave us some excellent tools for measuring this elusive idea of world power decades ago. Organski argued that GDP, tempered by Population, was as good an approximation as any to measure this aspect of International Power. Looking at this, we see that the United States may, as of the time of this writing, still lead the world on account of a slightly larger GDP that its closest rival, China. However, when we adjust GDP by PPP, which is Purchasing Power Parity, we see that China has already surpassed the United States in "real" GDP. Furthermore, it is perhaps useful to consider GDP as percentage of National Debt. Here we see that that the GDP of the US is actually much less than its astronomical National Debt. Will the National Debt of the US ever be paid off? It does not seem likely. The government of the United States is in something of a position of an indentured servant to the International Bankers. This perhaps explains some of the otherwise inexplicable machinations of modern American Foreign Policy.
However, it seems that we need to look beyond the numbers to articulated strategies and successes of the competing nations. A resurgent Russia has allied with the burgeoning power of China to form an immensely potentially powerful coalition on what Mackinder styled years ago as the World Island. China, in cooperation with Russia and other European and Asian nations is building out the New Silk Road, assuring connectivity of commerce throughout this vast region. China and Russia are both building military arsenals that already challenge the hegemony of the United States. To me, it seems clear that the International Power in the years to come will emanate from this alliance. With this in mind, it is perhaps fair to say that the alliance of Russia and China is already capable of deterring American power. A truly careful look at the headlines will probably confirm this position.
Back to McCoy's great book, the Professor also deals at length with US government involvement both in illicit narcotics trade and in torture. In a way, these aspects illustrate the moral decay of the United States. And perhaps this would go to the above allusion relative to the quality of the crew. A society in moral decay simply can not match a coalition on the rise. And that is perhaps the main point.
In any case, we are much indebted to Professor McCoy for this excellent and thought provoking book. And we wish him God's speed as he continues to pursue his amazing and important career.
God Bless.
Tozer
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico 09-Mar-20
The rest of us would be better off reading or re-reading "Future Shock", by Alvin Toffler, which was written in 1970; or "1984", by George Orwell, written decades before that. We can better relate to "sticker shock," wondering what "big brother" and "Uncle Sam" are really up to, and trying to remember a computer password or debit card pin number. This being said and all things considered, I went ahead and read the book anyway, being a naturally curious and basically inquisitive intermediate beginner in the realm of professional development. My conclusion is that the book represents technically brilliant photo-journalism at its finest. But it is totally unconvincing to me that a superpower would go rogue in such an unprecedented, irrational manner, even if the setting sun of imperialism were to cast the mere shadow of a doubt upon our bright future.
According to Toffler, you need "imagination" and "insight" in order to prepare for the future, and defend yourself against its effects. McCoy, on the other hand, may have you believing that all you need is a little "inspiration." I, however skeptical, representing people with common horse-sense, believe what any average American will tell you, that you also need original ideas, sound innovation, ingenuity, and good, timely information, if you're going to get anywhere in life and want to succeed in your endeavors.
If a certain superpower were endowed with good intentions, were a wholly human being, and you identified him by the Jonathan Swift character name "Gulliver," he would obviously be a "giant of a man." You might even go so far as to say that Gulliver has a great many responsibilities. He has obligations and duties to fulfill, as well. Like all of humanity, he has doubts and fears, along with his hopes and dreams. But above all, you can't help but think, "Gulliver only wishes to free himself from the geopolitical constraints that tie him down."
R. Royce had some time to spare, and so he went to the recreation center with the intention of bowling a few games. He warmed, stretched, and limbered up his muscles the first ten frames. His score improved significantly the second game. Along about that time, Cornelius Korn arrived. He was not so much inclined to concentrate on the physical aspects and dynamics of the sport of bowling itself. He was more the type who enjoyed rolling out the flashiest and most impressive-looking bowling ball anyone has ever seen before or since, on occasion.
"Did you enjoy the cruise?" asked Korn, mildly amused.
"Immensely! The islands were absolutely fabulous," replied Royce.
"Especially the part about the deep blue sea, pristine beaches, coconut palms, warm sunshine, and not a care in the world," commented Korn. "Listen, I was thinking about the old '56 two-tone Buick your folks drove back in the day when we were kids. The one that would never go in reverse gear."
"I'd completely forgotten about that," said Royce. "What do you have in mind?"
"You've seen the big, boxy, four-door, all-terrain Jeep I acquired a couple of months ago. A neighbor is trying to sell it for me. He owns the car lot in town."
"Let me guess. You want to add a splash of color to the bullet-proof, glossy-black body as an added incentive to prospective buyers, because you're asking too much for the vehicle."
"That's right. What do you think about painting the doors lime green?" asked Korn.
"Might make too much of an impact statement. How about painting the rocker panels
underneath the doors instead? Chartreuse should do the trick."
"Splendid idea! Into the paint shop it goes."
"Incidentally, did you sell the treasure map we acquired on the cruise ship?" Royce asked.
"Yes, the funds have transferred. They were deposited into your off-shore bank account this morning," beamed Korn, pleased to relay the message.
"One last item on the agenda," said Royce. "You mentioned something about packing a parachute for our next vacation?"
My only complaint is that McCoy missed the opportunity to make a SkyNet joke during a lengthy section on an 'integrated robotic command structure' for American drones and aerospace armaments; an excellent opportunity wasted.
Definitely worth a read if you like politics, history, or general non-fiction.
Top reviews from other countries
So far I can say:
It looks good in my bookshelf.
Die Argumentation ist stringent und wird durch eine wahre Flut von Quellenangaben belegt.
Insgesamt betracht ein "must have" für Menschen, welche sich für Geopolitik interessieren.