Slouching Toward Pluralism: An End to “The American Century”?

There is now widespread concern about the tension between America’s economic interests and its continued geopolitical role as “hegemon” of the world system. At the simplest level this tension is embodied in the escalating gap between the cost of policing the world and the resources of the U.S. economy, an economy that no longer looms as large as it once did. The dynamics of this problem, of course, are far more subtle and complex than merely the price tag of serving as global policeman. For example, a review of recent U.S. economic diplomacy makes it painfully clear that the primacy of the cold war in U.S. diplomatic goals, combined with America’s relentless advocacy of a laissez-faire system, make it very difficu...