Question on two European-history works

[MisterP]

Some years ago on DU there were mentioned a book and an article, which I have been unable to recover or find using GoogleDU.
Which Briton believed that his country's Empire was declining, and so the United States's military and intelligence agencies should be trained to take over after WWI? I think this was in the 10s or 20s, so it couldn't be neo-imperialists Andrew Roberts or Paul Johnson.
There was also a book showing how Germany was modern, industrialized, and less anti-Semitic than France before Nazi propaganda took over and made people indolent.
Both these titles have significant application to the present day and the present political situation (sorta like Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Day After Tomorrow).