After the Empire - (European Perspectives: A Social Thought and Cultural Criticism) by Emmanuel Todd (Paperback)

About the Book

Widely reviewed and critically praised, Todd's work predicts that the United States is forfeiting its superpower status even as a Eurasian alliance bringing together Europe, Russia, Japan, and the Arab-Islamic world emerges.

Book Synopsis

Widely reviewed and critically praised, Emmanuel Todd's After the Empire predicts that the United States is forfeiting its superpower status as it moves away from traditional democratic values of egalitarianism and universalism, lives far beyond its means economically, and continues to anger foreign allies and enemies alike with its military and ideological policies. As America's global dominance evaporates, Todd foresees the emergence of a Eurasian alliance bringing together Europe, Russia, Japan, and the Arab-Islamic world.

Todd calmly and straightforwardly takes stock of many negative trends, including America's weakened commitment to the socio-economic integration of African Americans, a bulimic economy that increasingly relies on smoke and mirrors and the goodwill of foreign investors, and a foreign policy that squanders the country's reserves of "soft power" while its militaristic arsonist-fireman behavior is met with increasing resistance. Written by a demographer and historian who foresaw the collapse of the Soviet Union, this original and daring book cannot be ignored.

Review Quotes

...it is a source of intelligent analysis and distinctive insights that merit close attention by all Americans concerned about our country's role in the world and the future we are leaving our children.--David Korten "Yes: A Journal of Positive Futures"

After the Empire is a work of greater political engagement, excoriating the global impact of an America that has passed with bewildering rapidity from dream to a nightmare, and calling down on it a doom almost as rapid and every bit as fulfilling.--John Dunn "Times Higher Education Supplement"

After the Empire is worth reading for insight into how some people view the United States... this book might help dispel some of the smugness that is one of the least attractive facets of the American character.--Philip Seib "Dallas Morning News"

this is a book well worth reading--Gerald Horne "Political Affairs"

[Todd] has written what may be the most important work since Francis Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man... Already a best-seller in Europe, this book is destined to be much talked about and analyzed.-- "Booklist"

Emmanuel Todd'sAfter the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order is the best new book on the reasons behind American 'theatrical micromilitarism.'... Todd performs the neatest surgery yet on the insecurities besetting the alleged American hyperpower.... Todd gives us more hope than any other recent writer that the day of reckoning is soon to come.--Anis Shivani "Adbusters"

He makes some interesting points.... Worth reading for insight into how some people view the U.S. Throughout much of the world, America is more feared than respected and more disliked than admired. Ignoring such opinions is folly.--Philip Seib "The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel"

I would recommend this extraordinary book to everyone troubled by US neo-imperialism... this is a brave and challenging book which contains a great deal of truth.--Clare Short "New Statesman"

In this latest thought-provoking book, Todd predicts the end of another empire. He examines the fundamental weaknesses of the US to conclude that, contrary to conventional wisdom, America is fast losing its grip on the world stage in economic, military and ideological terms.--Anne Penketh "The Independent (UK)"

Slic[ing] the globaloney pretty thin, ... Todd argues that a New World Order really is emerging, as country after country experiences the rising literacy rates and falling birth rates that precede a shift toward modernization.-- "Newsday"

The most effective and most talked about of the new anti-American texts.--Adam Gopnik "The New Yorker"

Todd is a brilliant provocateur. But if his book is sometimes depressing that is because it echoes many of our current concerns.After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order--Eugen Weber "The New Leader"

Todd's book is like a hearty dose of castor oil: strong medicine, but a remedy that, if swallowed, will help us to purge ourselves of much that ails us.--Harold O. J. Brown "American Conservative"

What makes the latest publication by the celebrated French political analyst Emmanuel Todd unusually provocative is its robust skepticism... Todd has written an important book which not only challenges the conventional wisdom but does so with exhilarating verve and panache.--Neil Berry "Arab News"

About the Author

Emmanuel Todd is a researcher at the French National Institute for Demographic Studies. He is the author of numerous books, including The Final Fall: An Essay on the Decomposition of the Soviet Sphere and The Making of Modern France: Ideology, Politics, and Culture. C. Jon Delogu is a full professor of English at the Université Jean Moulin, Lyon III.Michael Lind is the Whitehead Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. He is the author of Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics and, with Ted Halstead, The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics.