Farsighted and fascinating predictions for a new world order in which America is no longer number one.
Moving beyond Fareed Zakaria's bestselling The Post- American World, veteran international correspondent Paul Starobin masterfully mixes fresh reportage with rigorous historical analysis to envision a world in which the United States is no longer the dominant superpower. The American Century has passed, argues Starobin, due in large part to America's military overreach in the Middle East; resurgent nationalism and economic expansion in Russia, China, and India; the tarnished American model of unfettered free-market capitalism; and the growth of transnational cultural, political, and economic institutions.
Following an insightful analysis of America's global ascendancy, Starobin explores five possible scenarios for the future: an age of chaos like the one following the collapse of the Roman Empire; a multipolar order of nations in which America would be one great power among others; China becoming the dominant superpower; an age of global city-states; or a form of world government. A concluding section of the book explores how California—the eighth largest economy in the world and demographically and technologically among the most sophisticated spots on the planet—is already starting to move beyond the American Century. Thought provoking and well argued, After America serves as an urgent catalyst to discussing America's evolving role in a dramatically changing world. Starobin's tone is sober but in the end hopeful—the world after America need not be a disaster for America, and it might even be liberating.
'In dark economic times, countries fall back on themselves and think of little beyond tomorrow. Yet these are always the times when tectonic shifts take place in global relations. Afterwards, the world is never the same. Paul Starobin's After America is about afterwards, and it is eminently worth reading. It's about the new world stirring within the old, and how, among other things, post-imperial multicultural California could be the harbinger of a future America unmoored from its global ambitions. Starobin is not really a typical journalist. He is much more of a historian of the present who combines superior analytical abilities with conventional reporting. He is just the right person to do this book.'—John B. Judis, author of The Folly of Empire: What George W. Bush Could Learn from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson
'Declaring America in decline is easy, at least after George W. Bush. Harder—and far more interesting—is speculating about the world that will follow America's reign. That's what Paul Starobin has done: creatively, thoughtfully, and provocatively. A fascinating book.'—Peter Beinart, author of The Good Fight: Why Liberal—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again
'How will America fare after the crises? What are its core strengths and weaknesses? What will happen to its great cities and regions? Will New York and Silicon Valley continue to grow while the flyover states and cities struggle to survive? These are the core questions Paul Starobin asks in his masterful After America. This closely researched and closely reported work provides a set of guideposts for our rapidly changing and resetting times.'—Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, and Community
'Paul Starobin has traveled widely and thought deeply about America's place in the world. His conclusions in After America—from the possibility of economic chaos to the reemergence of city-states—must be reckoned with as the nation meanders into a twenty-first century that may hold new promise but also poses frightening perils.'—Peter Gosselin, author of High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families
