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Thursday, April 15, 2004

By Emmanuel Todd ISBN 0-231-13102-X Columbia University Press 192 pp. Purchase This Book

In an atmosphere of ever-increasing economic and cultural integration, the United States, once the world's foremost purveyor of prosperity and defender of freedom, is today crippled by its dependence on other nations and desperate to conceal its vulnerability. Hobbled by a monstrous trade deficit and its reliance upon foreigners to finance a skyrocketing national debt, the United States fears the independence other countries gain through globalization. At a time "when the rest of the world ... is on the verge of discovering that it can get along without America, America is realizing that it cannot get along without the rest of the world."

So argues Emmanuel Todd, at any rate. In "After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order," the Frenchman deconstructs the transformation of the relationship between the United States and the nations that have for decades comprised its "sphere of influence." Todd, a researcher at France's National Institute for Demographic Studies, contends that the United States, which led the world out of economic ruin in the years following World War II, has more recently grown dependent upon the production and investments of foreign states. A nation that once guided the course of global history, he concludes, is now relegated to the role of spectator, and it objects fervidly to that designation.

Todd maintains that the U.S. behavior characterized as aggressive by foreign governments is symptomatic not of America's arrogance, but of its insecurity. America is an empire in decline, and rather than attempting to resuscitate the nation's fading greatness, the government is engaged in a desperate struggle to project at all costs an image of strength and resolve. Todd suggests that other nations will eventually discern the truth, and that the resulting erosion of relations will only deepen the crisis.

To Todd, the Cold War's conclusion signaled the beginning of the end of America's role as benevolent superpower, counterweight to the presumed tyranny of the Soviet Union. Having crafted a foreign policy to guard against a threat that no longer existed, the United States had to reformulate its approach to the rest of the world. Todd suggests that, rather than attempting to assume an equal role in the community of nations, the United States has chosen to foment unrest on a global level in order to preserve its role as indispensable mediator. He writes, "Economically dependent, America requires a minimum level of global disorder to justify its politicomilitary presence in the Old World." In light of recent world events, this characterization of America calls into question the impetus for the actions of the American government.

Addressing the controversy over recent changes to American foreign policy, Todd offers a surprising assertion: "Far from contemplating a return to isolationism, America is now afraid of isolation, of finding itself alone in a world that no longer needs it." And the nations that support America's habits cannot abandon their responsibility, either. Todd suggests that while America will endure the worst of the consequences of its newfound debility, other nations also have a vested interest in clinging to the status quo. After all, "How does one deal with a superpower that is economically dependent but also politically useless?"

Moreover, Todd maintains that today's America is not really an empire, because "[o]ne of the essential forces of empires, a principle behind both their dynamism and stability, is universalism, the capacity to treat all men and peoples as equals." Todd uses past empires to illustrate his point. Rome, the successful empire, employed a "universalist" philosophy, ultimately extending citizenship to the whole of the Mediterranean. Athens, the failed empire, maintained strict standards for citizenship, and this prohibitive policy crippled the fledgling realm. The United States, in Todd's estimation, is today promoting a chauvinistic, exclusionary ideology through its foreign policy. This inflexibility, coupled with an unparalleled rate of consumption dependent upon the production of others, has transformed America from a benevolent superpower to a global burden.

Todd uses an array of statistical evidence to illustrate his contention that most of the world is advancing while the United States and, to a lesser extent, Europe, are stagnating or regressing. Birth rates, for example, have slowed and stabilized in the developing world over recent years. Todd cites literacy as a legitimate indicator of a nation's progress, and argues that many developing countries have accomplished rates comparable to those of the United States in far less time. And while democracy is gaining footholds in the developing world, the author claims, that system is deteriorating in the lands credited with its modern emergence: nations of the developed West are now limiting the freedoms of their citizens in a manner inconsistent with the principles of their foundation.

Yet while the picture Todd paints is a dire one, he still sees hope of a U.S. resurrection. He prescribes a major overhaul of American perceptions as well as policy. Not only must America learn to become more self-sufficient; it must also accept its new role in a changing world -- that of a single democracy in an egalitarian community of nations.

A best-seller in Europe, "After the Empire" has predictably gotten a much cooler reception from U.S. readers. (It's currently being outsold by some 6,800 other titles on Amazon.com.) And while no American president is likely to embrace the changes the book prescribes, Todd's criticisms are a thoughtful example of the concerns being voiced abroad -- and he highlights some uncomfortable realities that policymakers would be foolish to ignore. --Courtney McBride, NationalJournal.com

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