After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order Book

For every salient point Todd makes, he makes another outrageous one that comes off as based purely on anti-American sentiment. When he does this, he actually undermines the impact of the book.

For example, his claims that the American army is weak because it has never performed well in ground combat seem way off base. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that the days of ground based conventional warfare are over. Why then, would the American military risk the lives of its soldiers? It seems to me that Todd has missed the boat, and is stuck in the paradigm of the first and second world wars. I believe this argument serves to undermine his overall point regarding the military, which is simply that the American military cannot adequately control the world and its resources because it is spread too thin, a very valid argument. By making the unprovable claim that the American military would not perform well in a ground campaign, his Anti-American sentiment comes through and weakens his main argument.

I did find his analysis of demographic patterns and their impacts on the economy to be very interesting. Reading this in 2008, his predictions regarding American consumerism and abuse of credit have an eery accuracy, which lend some credibility to his overall premise in hindsight. I do, however, look at a lot of his predictions of the geopolitical landscape skeptically. While it is undeniable that Russia, with its immense resources, is resurgent, his prediction of a Euro-Russo-Sino alliance seems more like wishful thinking than an inevitablity. In his blatant Anti-Americanism, I think he goes a bit too far to glorify the French, Germans, and especially Russians. I'd be the first to admit that there has been some irresponsible American behavior when it comes to foreign policy, but the US is not the only nation acting selfishly and trying to secure resources. That has become evident after the recent Russian aggression in Georgia.

To summarize, I do think Todd makes a lot of fair and accurate criticisms of America, but he goes too far on many occasions, at the expense of his own credibility.