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The US in a Changing World Order

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Abstract

The United States faces a series of socio-economic problems threatening its status as a superpower. The article surveys some of the key symptoms of the nation focusing on changes in U.S. society after “the American Century”. Population growth, the new structure of immigration, general fear after 9/11, gun ownership, health and mental problems, the national debt, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, “imperial overreach” and racial issues are only a few of the threats to American democracy, social and political stability as well as to the international standing of the country. The author describes the state of the American national mind as both a product and a source of an ever growing international anomie.

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Notes

  1. On international criticism of the US see Paul Hollander, Anti-Americanism: Critiques at Home and Abroad, 1965–1990 (Oxford University Press, 1992).

  2. http://politicsorpoppycock.com/2011/01/14/the-demise-of-the-united-states-as-the-global-superpower

    Download of August 12, 2014.

  3. Cf. The Economist, November 18, 2010.

  4. Martin Gilbert, The Dent Atlas of American History. (3rd ed., London, J. M. Dent, 1993), 128.

  5. The Economist, January 20, 1990. 19.

  6. The World Almanac and Book of Facts (New York: World Almanac Books, 2012), 615. Cf. Tibor Frank, From Nativism to the Quota Laws: Restrictionist Pressure Groups and the US Congress 1879–1924. In: A. F. Upton, (ed.), Parliaments, Estates & Representation, Vol. 15 (Aldershot, Hampshire, UK: Variorum, Ashgate, 1995), 143–157.

  7. Jeremiah Jenks–W. Jett Lauck, The Immigration Problem (6th ed., New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1926), 448–449.

  8. Martin Gilbert, ibid. 128.

  9. Migranten schicken Milliarden heim, Die Presse, Wien, March 9, 2010., Die unglaubliche Entwicklung der Geldsendungen von Migranten, Tageswoche, Basel, May 9, 2013. Cf. Tibor Frank’s conversation with László J. Győri, Kivándorlások. Élet és Irodalom, August 25, 2012. Republished in: Majoros István (szerk.), Hindu istenek, sziámi tigrisek. Balogh András 70 éves (Budapest: ELTE Új- és Jelenkori Egyetemes Történeti Tanszék, 2014), 139–145.

  10. The Economist, January 13, 2011.

  11. Data published by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the USSG and the NIH Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

  12. Data produced by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 2006.

  13. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/october_2010/most_americans_say_u_s_is_too_politically_correct

  14. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/28/fort-hood-gunman-maj-nidal-hasan-sentenced-to-death/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Fort_Hood_shooting; both downloaded on August 10, 2014.

  15. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8239737/Censored-Huckleberry-Finn-prompts-political-correctness-debate.html Downloaded on August 12, 2014.

  16. “See no Evil. The Blinding of America,” undated blog.

  17. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-this-corruption-in-washington-is-smothering-americas-future-1882349.html Downloaded on August 10, 2014.

  18. Ibid.

  19. http://www.savefulbright.org/ Downloaded on August 12, 2014.

  20. Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (New York, Random House, 1987), 514–535; particularly 525, 534.

  21. Ibid. 520.

  22. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_deployments#Combat_zones Downloaded on August 12, 2014.

  23. Freedom Fighters of America, see https://www.facebook.com/FreedomFOA; Militia of Montana: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_of_Montana, both downloaded on August 12, 2014.

  24. Gallup Organization and http://lunaville.org/warcasulties/Summary.aspx Downloaded on August 11, 2014.

  25. Series entitled “Top Secret America” in: The Washington Post, 2010. See Richard Rhodes’s review in the September 30, 2011 issue of the book Top Secret America. The Rise of the New American Security State by Dana Priest and William Arkin (Little, Brown, and Co., 2011).

  26. http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2010/0719/Federal-spending-on-homeland-security-Too-much-just-right-or-not-enough Downloaded on August 12, 2014.

  27. Pilita Clark, BA attacks US airport security demands. Financial Times, October 26, 2010.

  28. Katherine Ramsland, School Killers. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/kids1/index_1.html Downloaded on August 12, 2014.; Kathleen Nader (ed.): School Rampage Shootings and Other Youth Disturbances: Early Preventative Interventions (New York, Routledge, 2011).

  29. Michael Grunwald, Tucson Tragedy: Is Gun Control a Dead Issue? Time, January 24, 2011.

  30. NRA.org

  31. http://www.gallup.com/poll/116350/position-world.aspx Downloaded on August 13, 2014.

  32. Roger Altman, Surprise: The Economy Isn’t as Bad as You Think. Time, July 28, 2014. 38–42.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of American Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Rákóczi út 5, Budapest, H-1088, Hungary

    T. Frank

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Correspondence to T. Frank.

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Frank, T. The US in a Changing World Order. Soc 53, 531–537 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-016-0061-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-016-0061-1

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