“The late Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington explained that what made America great was less its ideals than its institutions, including the separation of powers between executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and between the federal, state, and local authorities.” (p. 17)
We are seeing Trump and his minions grabbing power and reducing the legislative branch to its puppet. The judicial branch is learning it has little leverage to get the executive branch to act…if Trump doesn’t want to.
Robert D. Kaplan explores the threats to the United States and the world in the next decade. Climate change, migration/immigration, political upheaval, and dangerous technologies are just a few of the crises that we will have to confront as conditions worsen. “…a war between China and the United States could embroil the world economy in a society-called doom loop. And for the maxillary aspect of such a war, do not expect the Chineses to be as incompetent in their strategy and war machine as the Russians initially were. The Chinese are great students of war. They studied obsessively the American-led intervention in the Balkans in the 1990s, as well as the two Gulf wars…. If they ever do decide to invade Taiwan, they will be better equipped to so so precisely because of lessons learned from observing Ukraine.” (p. 41-42)
Yes, Waste Land is a gloomy book. But Kaplan’s predictions about the next decade are supported by up-to-date data, true facts, and historical trends. Expect war, upheaval, epidemics, natural disasters, mass shootings, rogue asteroids, and chaos. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Weimar goes global — 3
- The great powers in decline — 69
- Crowds in chaos — 129
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 187
NOTES — 189
INDEX — 197
The other branches are not asserting themselves sufficiently…pure cowardice on the GOP-“led” Congress’s part, something approaching laziness on the judiciary’s, at least the SCUSA.
Todd, don’t ignore the money factor in this looming Constitutional Crisis. Senators and Judges and Executive Branch minions with their “deals” mean nothing but corruption.
Neoliberal whoring to big business has never helped, no, nor similarly the degree to which the right-wing generally has been willing to “pragmatically” sell their favor to the extreme right.
Todd, money skews Politics both for the Left and the Right.
Neoliberals are very much Not the Left….the dead center in to many senses.
Neoliberals are very much Not the Left….the dead center in too many senses.
And getting Taiwan to capitulate without war is almost certainly what the PRC would prefer. The childish spew/misbehavior of the Drumpf Admin’s part isn’t making the prospect of an indefinitely independent Taiwan any more likely.
Todd, Taiwan saw what happened in Hong Kong and they don’t want their democracy crushed.
No, they don’t, but they don’t want to be laid waste to, either. Alice’s parents are Taiwanese-born US immigrants…there’s no love lost with the PRC. And much more than HK, Taiwan was also born, as a country, in corrupt dictatorship…things have improved, but one can live under that kind of shadow for only so long…particularly with a moronic fascist fanboy admin getting away with nonsense in charge of their key theoretical ally.
Todd, Kaplan warns that China is studying the Russia-Ukraine War in preparation for their battle plans for Taiwan. Trump won’t defend Taiwan any more than he’s defending Ukraine.
Exactly, George–precisely my point. Drumpf is gleeful about dictatorship, only peeved that any given dictatorship won’t flatter him while it goes about its thuggery. Taiwan can’t be any happier about Drumpf than any other sane assessor who doesn’t see him as a useful tool.
I don’t say Taiwan wants to roll over…I say Taiwan might see there is not enough choice but to roll over or die horribly in not doing so, at least till the US is rid of Drumpf and his allied fools.
Todd, if Taiwan turns out to be a shooting war like Ukraine, the politics will really get ugly.
A shooting war is already politics at its ugliest.
As the late Bill Crider so often said, “We’re doomed, doomed.”
As Deb frequently says, I’m glad we’re old.
There is zero chance I will read this book. I’m depressed enough about where we are already.
As someone in the NYT wrote over the weekend, the biggest problem isn’t Trump, it’s Congress totally abdicating their job.
Jeff, our Congress has been bought and sold by Trump and his donors. The “balance of powers” theory is out of whack…
Undoubtedly, Kaplan has written an important book, but—another thing I often say—he’s preaching to the choir here.
Deb, Kaplan provides the data and the statistics and the historical context for what’s ahead. I appreciated having our rocky Future laid out in detail.
I wish all the books about the current state of the world were about lollipops, sunshine, and roses, but it would be folly to ignore all the terrible and stupid things that are happening around us. Ours are small voices in a vast ocean, but I sincerely believe that if enough voices were heard, some sort of sanity will return to the world. I really hope I’m not delusional in this belief.
Jerry, those in power always fear The People. But most of The People are sheep and it takes a lot to arouse them to action.
DJT is just stupid and self-worshiping enough to lose most of us, as he has begun to prove. It’s remarkable, for one obvious foolishness to put it kindly, how Tramp only understands tariffs as a means of bullying.
Todd, I suspect Trump failed ECON 101.
Drumpf fails any test requiring non-self-flattering “thought”.
Here’s something that popped in this morning: https://charliesykes.substack.com/p/were-past-the-tipping-point/
The Democrats will continue to whine and quail, abdicating any hope of building a strong, compelling platform that will help them regain majorities in the House and Senate in 2026–not to mention regaining the WH in 2028. And let’s not forget the epic fail of the news media, which has enabled and amplified Trump from the moment he came down that escalator in 2015.
Fred, the Media is also fueled by Dark Money. Trump generates ratings so his every goofy exploit–Tariffs, Executive Orders, firing Generals, etc.–gets maximum coverage. Both the Democrats and Republicans receive billions of dollars…and when you pay the piper, you get to call the tune.
If Drumpf controlled that money, he’d blow it on more glold-plated toilets. His handlers are calling these tunes.
Another ivory tower bozo with a book of pet theories! Spare me!
Bob, forewarned is forearmed…
And Sykes was moved to update his post, after Drumpf’s smirking press conference with the Salvadoran dictator:
https://charliesykes.substack.com/p/updated-were-way-past-the-tipping
Trump to Supreme Court: “You and what army?”
The probably apocryphal Andrew Jackson line (in terms of actually uttering it, as opposed to behaving thus, as he did): [First US Supreme Court Chief Justice] John Marshall has Made his decision…now let’s see him Enforce it.” And then began the Trail of Tears against the Cherokee.
Todd, History repeats itself…
Jeff, Andrew Jackson had the same attitude towards the Supreme Court. Another weakness of Democracy…
Grim times.
Neeru, the world is in flux and we all need to be prepared for predictable problems.
George, anything about the Indian subcontinent since the cover image seems to be from there?
Neeru, Kaplan focuses a lot on China, but he implies that the U.S. will have to shift to more trade with India.