The Reckoning: Debt, Democracy, and the Future of American Power
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3.9 • 25 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A leading forecaster of economic and political trends takes a sharp look at the decline of American influence in the world, and how it can prepare for the new reality.
The age of American global dominance is ending. Today, a host of forces are converging to challenge its cherished notion of exceptionalism, and risky economic and foreign policies have steadily eroded the power structure in place since the Cold War. Staggering under a huge burden of debt, the country must make some tough choices—or cede sovereignty to its creditors. In The Reckoning, Michael Moran, geostrategy analyst explores the challenges ahead -- and what, if anything, can be prevent chaos as America loses its perch at the top of the mountain.
Covering developments like unprecedented information technologies, the growing prosperity of China, India, Brazil, and Turkey, and the diminished importance of Wall Street in the face of global markets, Moran warns that the coming shift will have serious consequences not just for the United States, but for the wider world. Countries that have traditionally depended on the United States for protection and global stability will have to fend for themselves. Moran describes how, with a bit of wise leadership, America can transition to this new world order gracefully—by managing entitlements, reigniting sustainable growth, reforming immigration policy, launching new regional dialogues that bring friend and rival together in cooperative multinational structures, and breaking the poisonous deadlock in Washington. If not, he warns, history won't wait.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this solemn examination of the severe problems facing the U.S. today, geostrategy analyst Moran explores the country's recent decline from various angles, from the immense deficit and political indecision that resulted in Standard & Poor downgrading the country's credit rating, to the rise of nations like China, India, and Brazil, with their growing economic and industrial power enabling them to assert themselves on the international stage, sometimes at odds with American interests. Moran touches on how communications technology, such as cellphone cameras and social media networks, assisted in the recent protest movements in the Middle East; much of this technology originated in America, yet many of the protestors distrust the U.S. due to its history of supporting the region's dictators. Arguing that America has become too comfortable with its status as the most powerful country in the world, with its leaders either ignoring signs of their decline or designing impractical schemes to regain their standing, Moran suggests several possible solutions: reducing the American military presence in places like Japan and Germany and encouraging those countries to strengthen their own defense forces. The book offers a practical, useful roadmap for change if politicians will follow.
