Description:
The New American Imperialism argues that the United States has entered a dangerous new phase - not merely under an erratic president, but as a nation that has lost its way structurally and spiritually.
Jonathan Taplin shows how the republic, founded on a deliberate rejection of empire, has become its purest expression: a nation that spends more on its military than the next six powers combined, while its bridges crumble, its citizens ration insulin, and its democracy is quietly purchased by a handful of tech billionaires. The invasion of Venezuela, the failed war with Iran, the fantasy of a three-trillion-dollar Golden Dome - these are not aberrations. They are the logical endpoint of a system in which the military-industrial complex and the new digital oligarchy have merged into a single governing force.
Drawing on Eisenhower's unheeded warnings, RFK's forgotten critique of militarism, and the long shadow of Gramsci's interregnum, Taplin asks the question that haunts every empire in decline: can a republic that has forgotten the difference between strength and domination find its way back?
Urgent, clear-eyed, and historically grounded, this book is an essential guide to the crisis of American democracy - and to what might yet be salvaged from the wreckage.
Review Quotes:
"Modern America has frittered away the sources of its global dominance, eroding its 'soft-power' influence while exposing the limits of its wasteful 'hard-power' arsenal. In this clear, concise, historically grounded but up-to-the-minute new book, Jonathan Taplin gives practical guidance on what should come next: The transition to more durable prospects for America's survival as a democracy and as a successful player in a changed world order. This is a book for readers in the United States and beyond."
James Fallows, co-author of Our Towns and winner of the National Book Award
"Far ahead of everybody, Jonathan Taplin warned about the incipient authoritarianism of the brave new digital world. Now he presents a much larger view of a teetering American empire on the verge of something closer to fascism, and suggests what we can do about it. For the sake of reclaiming our democracy and with it our humanity, read this book."
Sean Wilentz, Princeton University and author of The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln
"The new American imperialism - Donald Trump's incompetent, corrupt, and corrupting fantasy re-enactment of the original Gilded Age of American imperialism - is a ripe subject for a Jonathan Taplin cri de coeur. As he explains passionately, in addition to fashioning a domestic fascism where the trains definitely don't run on time, our Ugliest American is also failing in his oafish dreams of Lebensraum and war-making abroad."
Kurt Andersen, author of Evil Geniuses and Fantasyland