Is the American Empire in decline?

Nina Hachigan: We certainly aren’t living up to our potential. But- and I might dispute whether we are an empire or not. I know there’s a big debate about that. I don’t think we need to go there, but we need to be leading in a different way. We need to be leading- let’s put it that way. We are not leading the world, as it is. We’ve really been the big detractor in the international system and, if we wanna continue to thrive, we have to lead in a different way and we have to get our act together at home. And I think those are the two real key things that we have to do differently. But the issue of whether we are declining is semantic in some ways, to me. I mean, if you think of power as a relative concept, then of course as China and India and Russia, and even Japan and Europe, gain more power, we are going to have relatively less than they do. But I don’t think that’s the key question. I think the key question is, so what does that matter for the United States? How will that affect American security and prosperity, and our way of life? Because, the fact is that the lives of these other powers can actually be good for the United States in many ways.