The 'Fall' of the United States: Peace, Stability, and Legitimacy
Strange, Susan. “The “Fall” of the United States: Peace, Stability, and Legitimacy.” In The Fall of Great Powers: Peace, Stability and Legitimacy, edited by Geir Lundestad, 197-211. Oslo and Oxford: Scandinavian University Press and Oxford University Press, 1994.
Once again Strange argues at length that the notion of American decline in the global system is mistaken if examined through her structural perspective. She presents a brief history of the previous fifty years to explore how America’s ‘fall’ can be proposed and why this misunderstands power in the global system. She uses this insight to argue for an International Political Economy approach to the problem of American hegemony, but she also warns that technological changes feeding into structural changes may make drawing lessons from the decline of previous hegemons difficult if not impossible. She concludes that while structural change may offer the best chance for a more just and peaceful system, it may also open up the possibility of extensive disorder and insecurity in the future, leading to problems of legitimate rule and authority.
Keywords: Hegemony; Structural Power, Power; United States