Description
Book SynopsisIs the West in Decline? is a collection of ten essays by prominent scholars of international relations and current history, many of them associated with the European Studies program of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. The essays explore the question of decline from several perspectives: theoretical, historical, counterfactual, and contemporary. Thomas Row's essay uses alternative history to show how an unfallen Habsburg Empire might have evolved into a state system resembling the European Union. Benjamin Rowland's essay on Oswald Spengler considers how the German historian's theory of decline could be applied to the West today. Several of the essays are country studies. Not all conclude that countries or state systems are in decline, or that the condition, if present, is irreversible. Writing about Germany, Stephen Szabo notes that only fifteen years ago, this currently robust country could have been seen as a clear exemplar of decline. Dana Allin's essay on
Trade ReviewThe consistently interesting contributions to this volume were written mainly by friends and former students of Professor David Calleo of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. Yet its chapters are notably diverse both in their approach and in their level of analysis. . . .[A] brilliant collection. * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *
A provocative and immensely valuable inquiry by outstanding scholars into the triumphs and tragedies of nations seeking glory in the pursuit of empire. -- Ronald Steel, author of
Pax Americana,
The End of Alliance: America and the Future of Europe,
Walter Lippmann and the American Century, and other works on American foreign policy
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Decline: American Style, David Calleo Part I: Systems in Decline Chapter 1: Spengler’s Decline of the West Revisited, Benjamin Rowland Chapter 2: Hegemonic Decline, Emerging Great Powers, and Global Conflict: Some Considerations on the Rise of Germany and Rise of China, Aaron Zack Chapter 3: Decline and the Rise of China: A New Perspective, Lanxin Xiang Chapter 4: Habsburg Decline Revisited: The Virtues of Cosmopolitan Empire, Thomas Row Chapter 5: Europe After the Crisis: A Case of Temporary or Morbid Decline?, Gabriel Goodliffe Part II: National Studies of Decline Chapter 6: Obama’s America and the Question of Decline, Dana Allin Chapter 7: Germany: Resurgence, Stagnation, or Decline?, Stephen Szabo Chapter 8: Italy’s Decline: A Case Study in Political Mismanagement, Mark Gilbert Chapter 9: Russia as a Great Power: Revival, Stagnation, and Decline, Hannes Odemeit Chapter 10: France: Another Sick Man in Europe?, Benoit d’Aboville
