The Fall of the American Empire

European Straits #40

Dear all,

The United States is a country that’s always been dear to my heart. And yet today there are many signs of this great nation losing ground at the global level—worrying signs that suggest that America could lose it all in the coming decades.

I first got a close look at the US in 1992, as I followed Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. I was a teenager then, and my upbringing had previously led me to believe that the US was that terrible country presided over by the arch-conservative Ronald Reagan, where sick people died in the streets because no one would lift a finger to help them. Then “The Man from Hope” rose from Arkansas with a liberal agenda that included making the tax system more progressive, deploying universal healthcare coverage, and supporting innovative solutions to make the government more efficient and effective.

The Clinton presidency inspired in me a real curiosity for US politics and history. Following the 1992 campaign, I read extensively about it all. T…