Decline and Fall: The End of Empire and the Future of Democracy in 21st Century America - Paperback

by John Michael Greer (Author)

The political theorist and author of After Progress examines the future of U.S. dominance on the world stage in this persuasive and provocative book.

The decline and fall of America's global empire is the central feature of today's geopolitical landscape. How we respond to this reality will determine much of our future trajectory, with implications that reach far beyond the limits of one nation's borders. In Decline and Fall, John Michael Greer examines the path we're on and presents a persuasive challenge to the conventional wisdom of empire.

Rather than asking if today's American empire should survive, Greer asks whether it can--and goes on to demonstrate that the answer is "no." After exploring the inevitable consequences of imperial collapse, Decline and Fall proposes a renewal of democratic institutions as the only constructive way forward.

Back Jacket

"John Michael Greer writes with unsurpassed clarity about the predicaments of energy and economy mankind faces. And he does it with a wonderfully kind, genial, and wise spirit."
JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER, author, The Long Emergency and the World Made by Hand novels

"Greer's work is nothing short of brilliant."
RICHARD HEINBERG, Senior Fellow, Post-Carbon Institute, and author, The Party's Over and The End of Growth

THE FATE OF America's global empire is the central feature of today's geopolitical landscape. Our response to its imminent failure will determine the trajectory of our shared global future. Using a wealth of historical examples combined with groundbreaking original analysis, Decline and Fall :

• Sheds new light on the misunderstood idea of empire
• Shows how the United States has backed itself into a blind corner in the pursuit of political and economic power
• Maps the road back to democracy in the wake of imperial collapse.

By shifting the conversation from whether today's American empire should survive to whether it can survive, and arguing persuasively that the answer to the above question is "no," Decline and Fall makes an invaluable contribution to the body of speculative post-industrial literature. This book is a must-read for anyone who believes that the time has come to reinvent the American Dream.

"Greer... offers us a view on our deindustrial future that is both carefully reasoned and grounded in spirituality. "
DMITRY ORLOV, author, Reinventing Collapse and The Five Stages of Collapse

"The enormous virtue of John Michael Greer's work is that his wisdom is never conventional, but profound and imaginative. "
SHARON ASTYK, author, Depletion and Abundance and Independence Days

JOHN MICHAEL GREER is a scholar of ecological history and an internationally renowned peak oil theorist, and the author of more than 30 books, including Green Wizardry and The Long Descent .

Author Biography

John Michael Greer is a scholar of ecological history and an internationally renowned Peak Oil theorist whose blog, The Archdruid Report, has become one of the most widely cited online resources dealing with the future of industrial society. He is the author of more than 30 books including Green Wizardry and The Wealth of Nature . He has been active in the contemporary nature spirituality movement for more than 25 years.