America at Risk / Part 1: Wages of Empire

By: kris bishop | Date: February 2, 2009

EXCERPTS from America at Risk, a new
collection of writings by eminent thinkers and writers asked to address the
question that must be addressed by the Obama Presidency: What are some of the greatest dangers facing America today and what might be done to meet them?

The Transatlantic Predicament / p. 15
by Pierre Manent

"The current lull in the transatlantic shouting match is a good time to survey the situation on the Western front, although relief at our renewed comity risks blinding us to the huge continental drift that has already taken place. The dispute about Iraq brought to life a profound divergence about the world, and what we are supposed to do in the world, between Europeans and Americans, which the provisional convergence about Iran has not removed."

American Democracy: The Perils of Imperialism? / p. 29
by Niall Ferguson

"Most American occupations of foreign countries have been of relatively short duration, which may well account for their relative lack of success in fundamentally altering the political institutions of the countries in question...this is the real problem--not the "hegemonic pretensions" of the United States, but its chronic lack of imperial stamina."

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