Great Powers Tend To Lash Out On The Downfall

"History is replete with examples of empires mounting impressive military campaigns on the cusp of their impending economic collapse." ~ Eric Alterman

"The idea wasn't to make a direct political statement since the current economic collapse hadn't begun when we started on the book. The parallels I'm most interested in are the ways that human nature never changes, no matter how far back in time you look." ~ James Vance

"Capitalism, the ogre of those protesting Wall Street, has suffered a public relations crisis in the wake of the global economic collapse. But any remedy to the systemic corruption that led to the collapse should not displace recognition that capitalism creates wealth. Capitalism, and no other economic system, has raised millions from poverty around the world." ~ Kathleen Parker

Historically, declining empires become more violent, both externally as military expansion and internally as repression. These are usually desperate attempts to hold on to power, prove strength, or restore a lost sense of mastery.

When the Roman Empire was declining, it faced extreme military overextension. Internal instability grew, emperors became more reliant on military loyalty than civic legitimacy, and this bred cycles of civil war and repression.

In the final years of Nazi Germany, the regime launched a campaign of genocidal policies and total war. Although these were both ideologically and fanatically caused, they were also a desperate attempt to secure supremacy as Allied forces encircled the Nazi regime.

Before 1991, the Soviet Union had a very stringent internal repression of its people and higher international interventions. The Afghan invasion of 1979 was indicative of earlier patterns of imperial overextension. Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts at reform, glasnost and perestroika, were desperate measures to rescue the Soviet empire, but inadvertently accelerated its collapse.

Many observers argue that the United States is undergoing classic indicators of imperial decline.

Continuous involvement in Iraq wars, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, and so on, over 150 of them, government overthrows and coup d'etats, etc., has drained resources, fueled global resentment, and provided questionable dividends to whom?

Action such as NSA bulk data collection exposed by Edward Snowden remind us of a government more interested in controlling its own citizenry.

A polarized media culture, widespread misinformation, declining institutional trust, and rising political polarization that creates internal fragmentation.

In the past 40 years the USA has evolved into a service economy that has sucked dry the industrial sector, leading to economic inequality and social discontent.

Now the present Trump government overall termed as the era of trumpism injuring not only internal economy and mass layoffs, but also a global economic unpredictable and belligerent trade policies such as blanket tariffs against various countries, and White House reckless rhetoric suggest instability at the top levels. Critics say that these actions are meant to intimidate other foreign governments, To intimidate foreign governments, friends and enemies, and domestic businesses alike, but they tend to backfire, harming diplomatic ties and economic stability.