There will not be an American empire. The world is too vast, too diverse, too dynamic to accept the domination of a single power. The examination of the demographic and cultural, industrial and monetary, ideological and military forces that are transforming the planet do not confirm the perception, today banal, of an invulnerable United States. Emmanuel Todd offers us in these pages a realistic description of a great nation whose power has been indisputable, but whose relative decline seems irreversible. The United States, once indispensable for world balance, can no longer maintain its standard of living without the subsidies of the world. The United States tries to mask its backward movement through a theatrical military activity directed against insignificant countries. The fight against terrorism, Iraq and the "axis of evil" are nothing more than pretexts. Lacking the necessary fo...read more