We all know what happens to people when the electricy goes off for a few hours, they start to think and talk to one another and their neighbors again, until their power goes back on and they rush back to their imaginary worlds.

When I see situations like the Katrina disaster and the whole mess that has created, along with the crash of the housing market, the growing cost of the average quality of life, and the actual possibility of having a female or ethic president for the first time in our great nation, it all signals very radical times for our great nation. It’s scary but exciting at the same time. Sure, things have gotten pretty bad over the last eight years but maybe the next eight will be a time of positive growth.

The overall quality of life for the average American is still light years ahead of other countries. And we are still looked at as an important powerhouse in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Look at the Dafur situation for example. The fact that we haven’t taken as big a step in helping fight that genocide makes us look bad in the eyes of the rest of the world….. because we are still looked as one of, if not the strongest country in the world.

Also, one quick side note:

What some people may not realize is that America plays a huge role in the development of the other countries that are “moving ahead of us.” Like Dubai. A lot of American investors are why that place is what is it. Outsourcing is another example. My company tried to lay off some employees to an outsourcing company based in India…… owned by Americans.

Your points have been the most even handed here.

Spot on about the current status of the US in a broader historical setting.

A lot of nit picking from a lot of other posters, who site the singular and try and expand that to define and support their arguments.

Also just because the author of th report has a middle eastern sounding name doesn’t automatically make him an Islamic mad man.

No more that being a yank denotes gun toting right wing tornado bait yahoo.

And I use the word yank to denote US Americans.

I don’t see it as being in anyway offensive…despite all over the world the Word is usually suffixed with “…go home”

You’re damned right! They just seem to crawl up out of the woodwork!

And when they get there, let’s see how they handle all the crap we’ve had to deal with in the last hundred years or so.

and ok, say i am arrogant bigot. so since i am arrogant bigot, its ok for americans to be that way as well?

i think i expressed my point quite clearly. i dont like americans for boasting too much how great their country is. for all the wrong reasons. to the point of narcissism. because your government spending all the money on (read awesome)army instead of proper health care is not something to feel proud about. in my opinion.

but what is YOUR point exactly?

That’s more like it, that’s the American perspective I’m used to.

OK, we are the 3rd most populous country in the world. No 1 economy, one of the largest landmasses. Our country takes almost a whole continent and has massive shorelines on both of the planet’s 2 biggest oceans. The US has the largest military, many top universities, and top research facilities on the planet.

It contains 300 million armed, dedicated, pretty religious, and highly motivated citizens.

So where exactly does a country like that disappear to? Yea Mr. Muslim fanatic… keep dreaming ya idiot. We are going to continue to be your worst nightmare for generations to come.

Perhaps you’re the bigot? Perhaps you are that which you claim to hate? Thats what I meant by the self awareness bit.

I don’t see what’s so hard to follow.

Was actually trying to clear things up. My apologies if I offended.

whats your point?

i dont care for any of those things americans try to boast about so hard. i care for all the people that get screwed over in process.

and yes, what a cunning insight into my childhood years.

i actually knew an american kid that went to a local school here. he was so out of touch with real world. kids used to beat him up. first for being a douchebag and second for being an american. his mom sent him to international school because of that.

I apologize on behalf of whichever American beat you up when you were in grade school. He obviously didn’t know how hard you’d take it.

Australian.

everyone seems to have temporal myopia. rome lasted for more than 800 years between its founding and its fall. had you checked things out at the time of the punic wars, you would have declared “hannibal ante portas” and said rome was falling. instead, their greatest days were in front of them.

the united states leads in so many categories, across every spectrum. no other nation on the planet holds such an advantage. china may have economic power, but their philosophical underpinning is weak. europe has diplomatic power, but no military strength. only america has power, and the ability to project that power, in every sphere.

thing king is dead, long live the king.

excuse me, i really dont want to start a flame war here. what exactly are you trying to prove? that i really DO care about americans? that its so bloody obvious that i cant live without those silly chaps?

i didnt even read half of that article to be honest.

“Go back to clubbing baby seals if you don’t like it.”

What does that have to do with basketball? Or this article, for that matter?

Or was it just a cheap shot because you’re an insecure little man/woman?

With a state welfare/social security, maybe it will be frenchified :p

Depends on what your criteria is. A while back a poll was taken of European hotel managers about their guests.
Americans were the No. 1 tippers and No. 3 in politeness (behind the Japanese and the British).
What about books published? New patent filings? Trial by a jury of your peers? Opportunities for appeal and redress of grievances?

Well, Guantanamo prisoners excluded…

I think popular opinions about Americans reflect attitudes about Bush and Co. rather than the rest of us. Of course, when he won in the second election it did reflect poorly on America as a whole.

The best thing we can do to improve our standing in the international community and economy is to stop voting for Republicans.

Of course, if America is such a terrible place why do so many people try so hard to move here? Despite our faults, America is still the “land of opportunity”. Its the best place for innovation, free speech and public accountability. We just need to keep it that way.

Go back to clubbing baby seals if you don’t like it.

Really? Because the simple fact that you bothered to post here says otherwise.

and also

americans with their homicide rates, extreme poverty going hand to hand with excessive over consumption, rotten economy and that cocky arrogant attitude

Actually it sounds like you’d fit right in.

Anyway, I don’t care what our national status becomes, I will never watch soccer.

I have a bad feeling about China, though. Simply too many people, getting industrialized too quickly. The concept of human rights means nothing to them, either.

In that case he was justifying policies he no doubt wanted anyway, on the basis of their ability to promote the US’s scientific standing. Guess he’s going to use the US’s geopolitical standing to try to get the country doing what he want’s more generally now.

Don’t think much of this type of argument. This is what kept European powers trying to hold on to their colonies after WWII.

Second of all, the problem, to paraphrase #2 in Austin Powers, is that there is no ‘world’ anymore, there’s just the corporations. Economy has supply and demand. Our politicians sold our country out decades ago, creating a “Global Economy” where the poor of the world supply and America’s middle class buy. NAFTA was just the final nail in the coffin.

I know some are going to roll their eyes at this post, but if it weren’t the case and our politicians were actually for the people, our public education system wouldn’t be the lowest in the industrialized world, college would be affordable, our manufacturing and support jobs wouldn’t have gone overseas, a blind eye wouldn’t be turned to illegal immigration (please read that world “illegal” again before you flame) so a slave class could be created and the minimum wage and labor unions could be circumvented, our nation would use our nations own oil reserves and research ethanol to remove our dependency on foreign oil and the devastation its done to our economy… the list goes on and on.

Sure the United States is going through some rough times with the war in Iraq, and potential economic recession, But I don’t see this as a “falling” of the United States. If you look around the world you see other countries facing similar problems. Also, there really is no one country thats stands out to take the “number 1″ title.

Secondly, though Zakaria’s overall argument is probably correct, the examples given in this blurb are rather silly. The “tallest building”, “largest casino”, “largest mall” – these are just carnivalesque status symbols. Rule of law, long-term economic stability, the ability to accommodate sustained growth without inequalities and social/political unrest – these are the more significant (and difficult to assess) questions.

Orjan: keep smiling, and hoping about that one. The EU seems poised for a century of steady decline.

United States of **America** ==> America
Estados Unidos de **Mexico** ==> Mexico
**Canada** ==> Canadia
Republica **Argentina** ==> Argentina
Republica Federativa do **Brasil** ==> Brazil
Republica del **Ecuador** ==> Equador
Republica de **El Salvador** ==> El Salvador
etc.

In other languages this may not be the case, but in English it seems that calling our country “America” works just fine.

If you feel slighted, feel free to say you’re from America.

Unless size is always proportional to internal R&D budgets, giant exhibitions of old technology mean nothing.

Why do you hate America?

I don’t see what the big deal is, status quo leads to stagnation, after all.

The end of American dominance is not an accident, either. It was predictable. Things come and go. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

I have noticed that the reason for anti-Americanism is not jealousy or anything of that sort, but it is that people believe that Americans are ignorant, arrogant, and lazy, and that they look at the world through rose colored glasses.

They see the people of America as loud, obnoxious, and fake, and they laugh at them.

The civilization or culture zone “we” belong to is the western one, which I can’t see going down anytime soon. People are still wanting to be more like the westerners in other cultures. Furthermore I don’t believe civilizations can really die out anymore as we go towards a more global perspective.

If you really meant the USA as a country and it’s power, then yes, I agree that it can’t be kept at this level with the Asian countries growing economically like they do while your debt to them rises evermore.

As I live in Europe I would like to see the EU grow to become a more significant political power than it is today.