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Decline of the British and American Empires Part V: The Americans Are Going Home
The United States of America, like the British in the 19th and early to mid-20th century, faced similar situations which the British had to deal with.
The American and British powers emerged because both states had qualitative advantages over their rivals.
The international political system is ruthless and a self-help system, which means the principles of survival of the fittest govern it.
No institutions can protect nation-states from destruction because there is no supreme authority above that of a nation-state.
The British had the advantage of being the world’s first industrialised nation in the 19th century.
This made it possible for a nation half the size of the Japanese home islands to build the world’s largest empire.
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States made up half of the global economy due to much of the world being ruined by war.
China has been in a state of constant war since 1916.
Europe was devastated by two world wars within 20 years, with World War II ending in 1945.
In this economic and geopolitical environment, the United States had no true rivals apart from the Soviet…
