Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly Different
Review: A book about the "American Empire" that is refreshingly different from any other I've read or read about. M. Todd is a Frenchman educated at Cambridge University, with an American grandfather, a background and training that gives him an unusual perspective, at least for an American reader such as myself. More important, he published a book in 1976 that predicted the collapse of the Soviet System, a prediction that demands he be taken seriously. He relies heavily on demographic and economic statistics in his analysis, and to some extent differences in family structure in different countries. For example, he notes that while white infant mortality in the US decreased from 1997 to 1999, black infant mortality increased. Even though the changes were small, he regards them as confirming the failure of racial integration in the US. Is he right? I can't pretend to say. But it is a perspective I've never seen before, one with some plausibility. This is just one example; he ranges over many issues. Some of his assertions seem outrageous, such as his claim that the US is militarily weak, but he backs them up with facts and argument. The book sparkles with original ideas. Whether he is right or wrong in his claims, his facts are worth knowing and his arguments are worth thinking about.
Rating: 
Summary: Apres nous, le deluge....
Review: A good primer on how the "Old Europe" looks at us these days. Emmanuel Todd, a French demographer, argues that the United States' "global war on terror" (or "terror war on the globe") is not a demonstration of American military prowess as much as a result of our encroaching weakness as a superpower. Faced with the loss of the Soviet Union as an ideological enemy, the US political-and-military establishment has shifted to a series of small aerial wars against largely defenseless countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama) to justify its continuing dominance of the world's resources - even as we go further and further into hock with our foreign creditors and progressively mortgage away our long-term economic viability.
Its not exactly a provocative thesis - unless you get all your information from Fox News. Economists have known for at least 10 years that the wage repression attendant on US economic "restructuring" (shifting work from manufacturing to service) is leading to record levels of debt as American desperately attempt to maintain high consumption levels on credit. Todd's strength is tying this overconsumptive trend to larger demographic factors to show how the US government is pursuing an ultimately self-defeating predatory policy of hoarding resources against the very populations who hold our economic fate in their hands.
But if Todd's synthesis is convincingly sobering, it also has its fair share of eccentricities. Todd clearly is banking on the resurgence of Russia, with its vast untapped natural resources, in order to create a Eurasian economic axis that will trump the US. Question to Todd: what makes you think the Russians will want to be the handmaiden (or glorified colony) of the French and the Germans? Historically, Russia has had a mistrust of Western Europe and Todd rather blithely assumes that Russia will naturally gravitate to Europe rather than to a reckless, self-destructive America. ("We're all Eurasians after all, right?") Europe has had at least three-hundred years of fretting over Russian dominion but Todd seems to think that's all in the past and a resurgent Russia and the European Union can mutually cohabitate (with Russia providing raw materials and markets for European goods - just what a good colony should do). My reply: lots of luck.
Also, he's just a bit too dependent on his demographical data. Todd's point is that democracy is ossifying in America and Europe as educational systems have produced oligarchies that stifle it while it is taking root in formerly authortarian societies. Its nice to see that population growth is slowing in the developing world - however, I'm not quite sure that necessarily translates into the worldwide growth of democracy. Certainly, the contrast between the popular response to the US Presidential elections and those in the Ukraine are telling; its also heartening to see Pinochet get indicted in Chile. But worldwide democracy doesn't seem anymore immament than it was 20 years ago in most of Africa or Asia. I think Todd's predictions are a little too pat for comfort.
Todd's book provides some fascinating reading - his sub-section on Ukraine and its position between Russia and the West is far more prescient than he could have imagined, writing the book two years ago. But the book also suffers from its own Euro-ccentricies. A reader but not a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order (Europ
Review: After the Empire is a provocative and ultimately sobering look at America's changing role in the international community. Using demographic and economic factors to diagnose America's waning hegemony, Todd offers a compelling reevaluation of American preeminence." "Todd argues that at a time when the rest of the world is discovering that it can get along without America - as more and more countries become increasingly educated, democratic, and economically stable - America is slowly realizing that it cannot get along without the rest of the world. Burdened by enormous domestic and foreign trade deficits, the declining value of the U.S. dollar, the unanticipated bankruptcy of several prominent companies, and the fact that it can no longer subsist on its own production, America is becoming ever more dependent on foreign money, a dependency that is steadily undermining its unprecedented political and economic influence
Rating: 
Summary: Worth reading
Review: An advantage of a late review is that you can read the newspapers. As I read about the Ukraine election, UK and France questions about the Euro and the EU constitution I feel this book is more relevant than ever.
As a book it is readable, even for a non-intellectual like myself. However there is the feeling that one is listening in on a conversation. The book is, in a sense, a reply. It is by reading the reviews on here that I have begun to appreciate what M. Todd might be replying to. The leadership role that was occupied by the US has been frittered away. Americans who think their lifestlye is unassailable and who do not understand why it might be questioned will understand this book after the gas is dearer and after their pensions start to fall.
This book is worth reading to understand that history is on the move even though the nightly news might want you to think otherwise. This book is about raising questions, not about preaching a gospel. Perhaps this is why some reviewers are made uncomfortable by it. Many of the questions raised have been continued to be raised, even in the mass media. It is a relevent book, and because the questions and attitudes will continue to be voiced by influential people around the world it is a worthwhile and relevant read.
Rating:
Summary: He might be right afterall, why not?
Review: Even if this book is wishful thinking it proves the poetic article of Jean Baudrillard on the attacks of September the Eleventh: "Yes they did it but we wished for it!" The fact that this book was a bestseller in France and Germany is enough evidence to conclude that there are just too many souls in the world who wish for the demise of the American Empire. Todd uses numbers and statistics to support his arguments as to why the USA is falling. Other rewievers already mentioned/evaluated most of his arguments, so I intend to put the one that hasn't been highlighted and it is the deviation of US from what it takes to be an empire; namely universalism. America unlike Rome and very much like Athens, as Todd points out, has a failed racial integration of Blacks and Latinos, and deviating from universal justice when it comes to mid East issues. Todd traces the roots of this behavior to the confused state of mind of English family structure in egalitarian matters between brothers. The Anglican mind has to alienate in order to embrace and the border between who is one of us and who is one of them "fluctuates". Oh yes, it is scary! The interpretation of US' economically motivated antagonism against defensless midgets such as Iraq is straightforward; once a major provider of goods for the world, US is now a pole of consumption i.e. a global parasite. To save the face she is trying to convince the rest of the world as an essential security provider and failing to do so thanks to her weak Army. We have already seen the weakness of Army in not so convincing Vietnam and Korea wars. My major criticism is though that Todd relies too much upon the return of Russia to (counter) balance US. Russia needs a tour de force to overcome her problems (demographics, public health, security of borders, etc.) which she may or may not achieve. It is simply not possible to tell.
Rating: 
Summary: Smoke and Mirrors from French Nationalist Propagandist
Review: Even if this book is wishful thinking it proves the poetic article of Jean Baudrillard on the attacks of September the Eleventh: "Yes they did it but we wished for it!" The fact that this book was a bestseller in France and Germany is enough evidence to conclude that there are just too many souls in the world who wish for the demise of the American Empire. Todd uses numbers and statistics to support his arguments as to why the USA is falling. Other rewievers already mentioned/evaluated most of his arguments, so I intend to put the one that hasn't been highlighted and it is the deviation of US from what it takes to be an empire; namely universalism. America unlike Rome and very much like Athens, as Todd points out, has a failed racial integration of Blacks and Latinos, and deviating from universal justice when it comes to mid East issues. Todd traces the roots of this behavior to the confused state of mind of English family structure in egalitarian matters between brothers. The Anglican mind has to alienate in order to embrace and the border between who is one of us and who is one of them "fluctuates". Oh yes, it is scary! The interpretation of US' economically motivated antagonism against defensless midgets such as Iraq is straightforward; once a major provider of goods for the world, US is now a pole of consumption i.e. a global parasite. To save the face she is trying to convince the rest of the world as an essential security provider and failing to do so thanks to her weak Army. We have already seen the weakness of Army in not so convincing Vietnam and Korea wars. My major criticism is though that Todd relies too much upon the return of Russia to (counter) balance US. Russia needs a tour de force to overcome her problems (demographics, public health, security of borders, etc.) which she may or may not achieve. It is simply not possible to tell.
Rating:
Summary: A Frechie Skewers Drunken-Sailor Diplomacy, and more...
Review: For Americans used to reading narcissitic volumes from either the right or the left, this book is fantastic. I don't pretend to know the economic trajectories of Russia, or the politcal contours of Japan, or other such wide-ranging topics; so I can't say whether his interpretation of the global picture is correct or not. But what I can say is that many of his characterizations of America ring true. He calls the US the "arsonist-fireman" of the globe, stirring up trouble in little countries just so we (well, Bechtel and Halliburton really, but close enough) can then ride in on the white horse and fix everything that we broke. His description of our foreign policy since the end of the Cold War as "drunken-sailor diplomacy" (a kind of clumsy, non-unified staggering about the planet) is a refreshing antidote to the usual elite conspiracy theories of the American left. But maybe most importantly, and probably what offends many of the reviewers here, is that Todd doesn't take America all that seriously. He certainly DOES acknowledge our military might (save the Army) and relative economic security at the moment, inegalitarian as it may be. But he feels that the general policy direction that American leaders have taken (both Democrats and Republicans) will render the United States increasingly superfluous. And I would have to agree. The end of the Cold War provided an opportunity to dismantle most of our military and turn our focus back inwards, towards self-sufficiency and ecological sustainability. But instead, we have preserved our Cold War global military reach (over 700 acknowledged military bases in over 130 countries), fudged around both openly and covertly in countries everywhere, morphed the evil communism threat into an evil network of satanic terrorists, and allowed a regal corporate plutocracy to emerge at home. As American citizens, it's our job to throw out the bozos, both Republicans and Democrats, who are leading this country into irrelevance. Rising per capita income and American corporate competitiveness doesn't help the US if all the rewards are reaped by the elite, leaving the rabble with obese bodies, swollen prisons, 4-hour daily commutes, and negative net worth (all realities right now for many Americans). Be brave! Buy this book, read it, and pass it on. It's a new perspective worth considering. Besides, all those Germans and Frenchmen can't be wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Lot of truth that will hurt you!
Review: Greetings from Germany! Please read this book for understanding what is actually happening! There is no better way for you in the US than this. But it will really hurt you in a lot of ways. It is not about how much Europe has to thank you, it is more about the difficulties now. You will get the view from the other side you do not see in your TV at the moment - so it will hurt!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Analysis of What I Have Feared For Many Years
Review: I have feared the great dependence of the U.S. on purchases of our Treasury Bills by the very nations that support our overindulgences as a nation. It has been obvious that they must loan money to the U.S. in the form of treasury bills in order for us to purchase their goods. My fear has revolved around what happens when these nations stop buying the treasuries or even worse when they start selling them. While the author does not address the treasury problem directly, he develops a thesis that supports my fears. He spends a lot of time developing a thesis of the world becoming fed up with U.S. militarism being used to protect us from our economic weaknesses. As a result, he foresees an eventual Europe, Russia, and Japan axis of world power. Russia is part of the axis as an oil and gas producer, but most important of all because it will be the nuclear deterrent against the U.S. He acknowledges China's growing strength, but does not address how they will fit into the puzzle. While the author's conclusions may appear somewhat farfetched, one cannot come away with a feeling after reading this book that something of the order of what he proposes could come true. The fact that this book was a bestseller in France and Germany is reason enough for Americans to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Kaleidoscopic view of world economy & politics
Review: I have to say that I can side neither with the reviewer who says this shows Americans the end of the world, nor the reviewer who describes at length Todd's overreliance on trade balance statistics. Emmanuel Todd is a french intellectual (I've read he's in the know with Chirac). He describes the global rise and fall of empires (Rome, Spain, Britain, US, etc)in a kaleidoscopic mix of economics, politics, history (including ancient history), cross-cultural anthropology, and demography. For me, this is a fascinating excursion whether the author is "right" or "wrong" - "agree, disagree" - on one page or another. Where else will you find a discussion of the Japanese GDP alongside a discourse on medieval inheritanced laws in Europe versus the Middle East? C'mon! Have a sense of humor. It's certainly interesting to have a European view in entertaining detail, rather than just hearing a slogan like "France doesn't support Bush, we hate France". Although written just before the current Iraq war, it provides much insight into French viewpoints of US imperialism (or at the least, excursionism). A major theme is that a "declining" US will pick small countries to bombard (Granada, Iraq) - rather like the constant distant wars Orwell wrote into the politics of "1984".
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