https://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2008/07/17/declinism-on-the-rise-or-how-to-hate-america-without-really-trying/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 07:23:35 -0400<![CDATA[Is it &#8220;closing times in the gardens of the West,&#8221; as Cyril Connolly predicated the middle of the last century? Are we witnessing Der Untergang des Abdenlandes, as Oswald Spengler said even earlier in that most unhappy and bloody of centuries? More to the point, is America, which just yesterday was proclaimed (or berated as) &#8220;the world&#8217;s only super power,&#8221; on the wane? Are we on our way to geopolitical irrelevance? Are observers like Fareed Zakaria right when they say that “Just as the rest of the world is opening up, America is closing down”?]]>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:41:16 -0400<![CDATA[Roger Kimball]]>https://pjmedia.com/roger-kimball/2008/07/17/declinism-on-the-rise-or-how-to-hate-america-without-really-trying-n114994