Re: The End of the Long American Century: Trump and the Sources of U.S. Power

The Foreign Affairs authors blame Trump for the potential end of the
American Century. French historian/anthropologist Emmenual Todd has also
predicted the defeat of the West, including the US. For him, Trump is
leading a revolution.
"I come to my latest book on geopolitics, which I think will be my last,
The Defeat of the West . It is to talk about this book that I am here in
Moscow. It predicts that, in the geopolitical confrontation opened by
the entry of the Russian army into Ukraine, the West will suffer a
defeat. I appear again in opposition to the general opinion of my
country, or of my camp since I am a Westerner.
..
We are at a turning point: we are moving from defeat to disintegration.
What makes me cautious is my past experience of the collapse of the
Soviet system. I predicted this collapse, but I must admit that when the
Soviet system actually collapsed, I was unable to foresee the extent of
the disintegration and the level of suffering this disintegration would
bring to Russia.
..
I also had my usual indicators, which are more about social stability
than economic stability. I continued to monitor the infant mortality
rate, the statistical indicator I use most. Children under one year of
age are the most fragile beings in a society, and their chances of
survival are the most sensitive indicator of social cohesion and
efficiency. Over the past 20 years, the Russian infant mortality rate
has declined at an accelerating pace, even though overall Russian
mortality, particularly among men, is unsatis-factory. For several
years, the Russian infant mortality rate had fallen below the American
infant mortality rate.
The American infant mortality rate is one of the indicators that allows
us to see that America is not doing well. Unfortunately, I believe that
at this moment, the French infant mortality rate, which is rising, is
passing above that of Russia. This is painful for me, as a Frenchman,
but I must be able, as a historian, to see and analyze things that do
not please me. The history that is unfolding is not there to please me.
It is there to be studied."