No we can't? UK think tank says US power is fading

[raccoon]

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 57 mins ago

LONDON – A weakened United States could start retreating from the world stage without help from its allies abroad, an international strategic affairs think tank said Tuesday.

The respected London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said President Barack Obama will increasingly have to turn to others for help dealing with the world's problems — in part because he has no alternative.

"Domestically Obama may have campaigned on the theme 'yes we can'; internationally he may increasingly have to argue 'no we can't'," the institute said in its annual review of world affairs.

The report said the U.S. struggles against insurgent groups in Iraq and Afghanistan had exposed the limits of the country's military muscle, while the near-collapse of the world financial markets sapped the economic base on which that muscle relied.

The report also claimed that the U.S. had lost traction in its efforts to contain Iran's nuclear program and bring peace to the Middle East.

"Clearly the U.S. share of 'global power,' however measured, is in decline," the report said.

The head of another respected London think tank, Robin Niblett of Chatham House, said the rise in the relative power of China, India, Russia and the European Union has made it harder for the U.S. to exercise its influence.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_us_power

Well, no empire lasts forever.

[Soylent Brice]

1. even Rome fell.

who didn't see this coming?

[raccoon]

2. Betcha there are lot of Americans who didn't. nt

[Soylent Brice]

3. that's kind of like saying the spoiled brat who ruins the family vacation

doesn't realize it's they're fault no one's having fun.

we all fucking knew it. we knew what we were doing.

and we knew what we weren't doing to prevent it.

that's my 2 cents, anyways.

[raccoon]

4. Nope. No empire lasts forever, never has and never will. regardless what we did or didn't do. nt

[Soylent Brice]

5. that, i can agree with.

shit, nothing lasts forever.

but we certainly saw it coming. we all did. it just comes down to certain levels of denial that some of us have achieved.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. And the Brits know what they're talking about, in this regard.

They were THE pre-eminent power of the 19th century, even in the world of Napoleon. The phrase "The sun never sets on the British Empire" was quite literally true - it was a global empire, unmatched until the US empire supplanted it after WW2. And their decline is in living memory of the oldest living generation.

With luck, in another 30 years we will be able to say "There was a time when the sun never set on the American empire - 780 military bases in 80 countries around the world. That god we don't have that to deal with anymore."

[DavidDvorkin]

8. I suspect that the average Briton is far better off now

than in the days when Britain dominated the world. There's a lesson in that, too.

[provis99]

7. I wish we were a normal nation rather than an empire.

Yet there are some idiots out there in the hinterland who think an American Empire is a good thing. Dolts.