The Ideas Letter

Is America in decline? As always, it depends on whom you ask—for some the slope seems to get steeper every day. Global catastrophes from Ukraine to Gaza certainly point to the diminishment of U.S. power and influence. The notion that the U.S. had the wherewithal to remake countries in its own image, that strange conceit of neoconservatism, is now a fever dream in the dustbin of history. The allure of these United States, once pervasive, has been reconsidered by a world no longer dominated by a unitary West, one that reaches toward a different vision of multipolar power sharing. And while polarization is a global phenomenon, exacerbated to be sure by populist entrepreneurs, its affliction is particularly profound and enduring in the American context. 

Yet when one looks elsewhere, the idea that American institutions are weakening seems baffling. The forces of the economy, security, and defense, not to mention cultural power, are hardly absent in the U.S. condition, and in some ways grow vaster. The notion that the U.S. promotes democracy is weather beaten, if not downright risible (as is hope for the health of democracy chez Trump’s America), but technology generally, financial sectors across the spectrum, professional sports and Tinseltown film continue to hold sway by any reasonable measure. 

The question of whether America is in decline is a hoary, though crucial, one long asked in many quarters. At The Ideas Letter, we are committed to steering clear of any reductive or establishment-type analysis. We asked a cross-section of writers, academics, and intellectuals to share reflections from their home base geography. This locks into the guiding geist of The Ideas Letter: How we can envision and interpret the world through the prism of the world itself, rather than via a few preset power-centers. How can we ensure that issues of global importance—whether climate,