Nouriel Roubini, in The Decline of the American Empire, and Harold Meyerson, in The Drums of Change, both make a very similar point: that America’s time as the sole unchallanged “hyperpower” is coming to an end.

I would have to say that Meyerson is far less interesting than Roubini, he simply notes that the Chinese are growing more powerful by the day, and that Russia is exerting its muscles in its immediate neighborhood.

Roubini, on the other hand, makes it clear that he believes that, “three factors suggest that the US has squandered its unipolar moment and that the decline of the American Empire – as the US was in effect a global empire – has started.” (emphasis mine)

His factors are:

• Excessive reliance on hard military power, and to unilateral a foreign policy.
• That other powers, China, a unified Europe, a resurgent Russia, and the rise of regional powers such as Brazil, South Africa, and Iran will mean that the US will find more peers and near peers in the future.
• That the, “US squandered its economic and financial power by running reckless economic policies, especially its twin fiscal and current account deficits”, which are increasingly financed by foreign governments and foreign investors.

He notes that the movement of foreign reserves from Treasuries to sovereign wealth funds in search of better returns is indicative of the fact that those creditors are nearing a point where they will make demands.

Speaking for myself, and not the good Dr., I would also note that the American way of life, or more accurately the standards of living for the top 1% and the phony economy of Wall Street, have not been sustainable for decades, and the transformation of the US from the largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation during the Reagan administration shows this.