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The political theorist and author of After Progress examines the future of U.S. dominance on the world stage in this persuasive and provocative book.
The decline and fall of America's global empire is the central feature of today's geopolitical landscape. How we respond to this reality will determine much of our future trajectory, with implications that reach far beyond the limits of one nation's borders. In Decline and Fall, John Michael Greer examines the path we’re on and presents a persuasive challenge to the conventional wisdom of empire.
Rather than asking if today's American empire should survive, Greer asks whether it can—and goes on to demonstrate that the answer is "no.” After exploring the inevitable consequences of imperial collapse, Decline and Fall proposes a renewal of democratic institutions as the only constructive way forward.
John Michael Greer is a scholar of ecological history and an internationally renowned Peak Oil theorist whose blog, The Archdruid Report, has become one of the most widely cited online resources dealing with the future of industrial society. He is the author of more than 30 books including Green Wizardry and The Wealth of Nature . He has been active in the contemporary nature spirituality movement for more than 25 years.
Prologue: Understanding Empire
Part One: The Course Of Empire
1. Origins of American Empire
2. The Struggle Over Empire
3. America at Zenith
Part Two: The Widening Gyre
4. The Failure of Politics
5. The Economic Unraveling
6. The Specter of Defeat
7. The Consequences of Collapse
Part Three: A Republic, If You Can Keep It
8. The Future of Democracy
9. Reinventing Society
10. Facing a Hard Future
Afterword: A Choice of Tomorrows
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author