America: Still the Hegemon | Newsweek International

The Eagle Still Soars

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Longtime observers of international relations will have a sense of déjà vu in reading about America's decline. Two decades ago international-relations scholars were enmeshed in a debate about American decline. Replace China with Japan, and the current gnashing of teeth sounds like a replay of debates from the 1980s. Over the long term, however, the demographic and economic vitality of the American economy is difficult to dispute compared with possible peer competitors. For decades to come, the United States will be first among equals. So don't believe the hype. By most measures, the United States is still the hegemon. This does not mean, of course, that the declinists don't have a point. Power is a relative measure, and the robust growth of the BRIC nations guarantees that U.S. influence will decline in the future. The really important question for America—and the world—is how Americans will manage this adjustment.

Daniel W. Drezner is an associate professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is the author of "All Politics Is Global: Explaining International Regulatory Regimes."

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Re-resopnse to Romiopines: It might be interesting to read, to get the non-US viewpoint. I don't write about life in the slums, I just live it. I grew up in the lower class, slowly got out of it for a few years, then went back when I lost the job that got me out. I am now back out, but only due to an inheritance from my brother. He got out himself only through talent and being born earlier than I. He was snubbed at college by the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity because of his origins, and ended coaching the people who snubbed him. He went on the engineer the software for the lunar lander, space shuttle and space station. I didn't get the breaks he did, but don't miss it. I did get to spend most of my teenage years in a mental institution because a high IQ didn't fit in with the neighborhood. The lessons I learned there are as valuable to me now as a college education. I still got to correct the errors of the PhD professor from India when she got into my area of experience in the course I took. There were two basic engineering errors, a textbook problem with a wrong solution and a final exam question with an impossible answer. I am still more at home in the 'slums' than I am around my new neighbors. It'll be interseting to see how well your novel matches up with my reality. I have an executive house and a new Maserati is currently somewhere on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. I still have one pair shoes, old running shoes, and my clothes are all Wal-Mart or running t-shirts. I have no suit, not even a dress shirt, and don't plan to change. My close friend, an Iranian soldier who was imprisoned for his artwork, then emigrated to Gernay, Japan, the UK then the US, got a job because I helped him get a computer graphics program working that the had bought. In a few weeks he had such a good demo that he received a job offer at a high class magazine, and is now working for a computer game designer. I have a house in the city where I lived for a while, and rent it, at cost, to a friend who has 5 kids, one newborn. So I guess I have been both a sufferer and a savior.

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Posted By: Romiopines @ 02/24/2008 9:30:19 AM

Holly Garfield,

I am deeply touched by your story. And I appreciate that you helped your friends in need.

Best wishes,

Romi
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Posted By: Holly Garfield @ 02/24/2008 8:02:02 AM

Re-resopnse to Romiopines: It might be interesting to read, to get the non-US viewpoint. I don't write about life in the slums, I just live it. I grew up in the lower class, slowly got out of it for a few years, then went back when I lost the job that got me out. I am now back out, but only due to an inheritance from my brother. He got out himself only through talent and being born earlier than I. He was snubbed at college by the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity because of his origins, and ended coaching the people who snubbed him. He went on the engineer the software for the lunar lander, space shuttle and space station. I didn't get the breaks he did, but don't miss it. I did get to spend most of my teenage years in a mental institution because a high IQ didn't fit in with the neighborhood. The lessons I learned there are as valuable to me now as a college education. I still got to correct the errors of the PhD professor from India when she got into my area of experience in the course I took. There were two basic engineering errors, a textbook problem with a wrong solution and a final exam question with an impossible answer. I am still more at home in the 'slums' than I am around my new neighbors. It'll be interseting to see how well your novel matches up with my reality. I have an executive house and a new Maserati is currently somewhere on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. I still have one pair shoes, old running shoes, and my clothes are all Wal-Mart or running t-shirts. I have no suit, not even a dress shirt, and don't plan to change. My close friend, an Iranian soldier who was imprisoned for his artwork, then emigrated to Gernay, Japan, the UK then the US, got a job because I helped him get a computer graphics program working that the had bought. In a few weeks he had such a good demo that he received a job offer at a high class magazine, and is now working for a computer game designer. I have a house in the city where I lived for a while, and rent it, at cost, to a friend who has 5 kids, one newborn. So I guess I have been both a sufferer and a savior.
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Posted By: Romiopines @ 02/24/2008 12:38:55 AM

Response to Holly Garfield:
I do stand by human equality and fraternity. I expect my forthcoming novel The Storm Within, being published from Indiana, USA, will be out by March/April 2008. In this novel I have championed the cause of human dignity that ultimately triumphs. I hope if you go through it, you would appreciate the poignancy radiating from the speeches of both the sufferers and the saviors.

Romi Jain