Niall Ferguson Sees American Century Continuing

Niall Ferguson, the British historian and author of Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire (2005), has written a column for The Washington Post, "Rough Week, But America's Era Goes On," in which he contends that despite the country's economic weaknesses, "it is much too early to conclude that the American century is over."

As usual with Professor Ferguson's writings, his ideas are well-informed and thought-provoking. (In Colossus, for example, he argued that the U.S. should be an empire, but doesn't have the rights mental stuff for it--we are "an empire in denial.") However, as might be expected from the title of my book, I can't agree with his assessment.

He rightly calls attention to the economic weakness of the United States, and our dependence on others, especially the Chinese, for the underwriting of our huge debts. But he underestimates the broad-based nature of U.S. decline, which stretches far beyond the economic realm. He cites the British journalist who wonders why the U.S. should now be the world's model for economic development, and indeed, polls around the world show that America has already lost that reputation. Furthermore, even the U.S. political system and its very political ideals are being questioned around the world, as revealed in polls by the Pew Center, among others.

The U.S. no longer compares favorably with other developed countries on measures of health care, education, poverty, inequality, violence, corruption, and political participation. We have lost not only lost our ability to dictate global politics, but lost the "soft power" influence that led other countries to admire and emulate us.