In the Shadows of the American Century

July 31, 2017
McCoy (Beer of Broadway Fame), professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, portrays America, in its 20th-century rise to global governance, as Athenian in its ability to forge alliances, Roman in its emphasis on military superiority, and British in its vision of creating a global culture—one marked by a “restless, relentless quest for technological innovation.” As the U.S. attempts to maintain global stability in a context of its waning power, its approach to this task has incorporated three elements. A “surveillance state of unprecedented power” and global dimension complements an “advanced cyberwar capacity” focused on providing information to the military. Underpinning both is a sovereign “defiance of international law” linked to an arrogation of moral leadership. That contradiction may prove to be what undermines American global hegemony, concludes McCoy. He describes a series of scenarios and the ways they could play out to end the American century, among them a rise of “backdoor empires,” regional power blocs built around rising nations; a fostering of domestic divisions by relative and absolute U.S. economic decline; an escalation into disaster of regional crises; an outbreak of a full-blown world war due to a confrontation with China; and a global catastrophe caused by climate change. Even less-apocalyptic events point to “a striking decline in American global power by 2030.” McCoy postulates a grim future—but readers will be split on whether his vision represents an accurate forecast or a hyperbolic one.

July 15, 2017
If you're American and want to rule the world, get to work immediately. By McCoy's (History/Univ. of Wisconsin; Policing America's Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State, 2009, etc.) reckoning, you've only got a few years left.The so-called American century has run longer than 100 years. It began, the author argues, in 1898, when the U.S. assumed colonial territories formerly controlled by Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines. It extended throughout the industrialized 20th century and the Cold War but then faltered in the "bid to extend that hegemony deep into the twenty-first century through a fusion of cyberwar, space warfare, trade pacts, and military alliances." Considering that the current occupant of the White House has repudiated such pacts and alliances, it would seem that there are plenty of hard-power options left in terms of sheer military might, but that doesn't get the job done alone. That repudiation, however, is not unnatural. For as long as America has had an empire--and McCoy does not shy from calling it that--there has been an uneasiness, a "profound, persistent ambiguity" about whether a putatively democratic republic ought to be controlling distant countries, whether militarily or through soft-power paths. Meanwhile, our position abroad has been weakened by numerous missteps, as when, in one of the author's examples, the troop surge in Afghanistan had the unintended consequence of alienating country people and pushing them into the arms of a now-resurgent Taliban. McCoy closes with several scenarios for how American hegemony and superpower dominance will fade--and, he urges, "every significant trend points toward a striking decline in American global power by 2030." The likeliest beneficiary would be China, he adds, which makes war a near inevitability. If only a dozen or so years are left, then it's time to start preparing for a post-imperial world--which is unlikely to happen, given the present "inward looking" leadership. Sobering reading for geopolitics mavens and Risk aficionados alike, offering no likely path beyond decline and fall.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 1, 2017

McCoy (history, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison) has produced a sobering and insightful study of America's rise to a global power after World War II. The author also examines recent trends to assess what the future holds for American hegemony in the world; he is not optimistic. Using data from the National Intelligence Council, McCoy explores the impact of economic slowdown or decline of American power as well as the effects further military misadventures would have on the economy. The rise of China as a world power is never far from McCoy's thoughts, and his assessment of that county's prominence and its burgeoning military and economic might is something that will interest all readers. Other chapters explore such relevant topics as surveillance, covert operations, and geopolitics as they relate to the rise and fall of the American Empire. VERDICT An outstanding book on an exceedingly important topic. Essential for all collections.--Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2017

McCoy (history, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison) has produced a sobering and insightful study of America's rise to a global power after World War II. The author also examines recent trends to assess what the future holds for American hegemony in the world; he is not optimistic. Using data from the National Intelligence Council, McCoy explores the impact of economic slowdown or decline of American power as well as the effects further military misadventures would have on the economy. The rise of China as a world power is never far from McCoy's thoughts, and his assessment of that county's prominence and its burgeoning military and economic might is something that will interest all readers. Other chapters explore such relevant topics as surveillance, covert operations, and geopolitics as they relate to the rise and fall of the American Empire. VERDICT An outstanding book on an exceedingly important topic. Essential for all collections.--Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.