"Empire in Decline": Historian Alfred McCoy on U.S. Aggression in Venezuela, Iran & Beyond

Jan 13, 2026 | As President Trump threatens Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Greenland and more, renowned historian Alfred McCoy says the United States is "an empire in decline," following a predictable pattern of militarism abroad and political instability at home as it loses power and influence on the world stage. "American politics become increasingly contorted and irrational," says McCoy. "I think the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, … and it will continue for another decade or two, until American power finally slips away."

McCoy just published his latest book, "Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage," on the impact of U.S.-Soviet imperial proxy wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America.


Democracy Now! can be supported here.

“The United States Is An Empire In Decline”

Feb 7, 2026 | We spoke to renowned historian Alfred McCoy about his latest book, "Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage," and why he believes the U.S. is losing its dominance on the world stage.

Chris Hedges: Grand Illusion

Jan 16, 2026 | We are cursed by what the historian Barbara Tuchman calls the “bellicose frivolity of senile empires.”

Chris Hedges: Rule of Idiots

Jun 21, 2025 | In the last days of all empires the idiots take over. They mirror the collective stupidity of a civilization that has detached itself from reality.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age: Is This the Beginning of the End of the American Empire?

May 28, 2025 | The US national debt is spiralling out of control, currently standing at an astonishing $36.2 TRILLION and climbing fast. But why does this matter to you? Join us as international and political editor Peter Hartcher joins host Samantha-Selinger Morris and explains how this accelerating debt signals an empire in decline.

Why a professor of fascism left the US: ‘The lesson of 1933 is – you get out’: Marci Shore made news around the world when her family moved to Canada. She discusses Trump, teaching history and how terror atomises society »

Dr Richard Wolff’s Perspective: Global Capitalism: The US Election and Trump 2.0 in Historical Perspective | November 2024

Nov 21, 2024

Why many Brits keep looking to the USA for economic leadership, why they keep drooling over all things American, is beyond any sane person’s comprehension. We were far better off as full members of the European Union than we will ever be clutching and clasping Trump’s apron strings! – © Mark Alexander

Democracy At Work: Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff: As the Empire Crumbles

Jan 22, 2024

View from the Left: US Defeat in Afghanistan Signals an Irrational, Declining Empire - Global Capitalism

Sep 19, 2021 • Prof Wolff analyzes the US defeat in Afghanistan and what America’s "defense" policies reveal about US priorities and problems that contribute to the country's decline. "This is a system that has lost even the little bit of rationality it once had. It is driven by specific, particular, what we used to call, special interests who are doing it at the expense of the society as a whole. The defeat in Afghanistan has been a powerful signal around the world that the American empire is in decline." - Richard Wolff

"The Unraveling of America: Is This the End of the American Empire?" | Amanpour and Company

Amid a global pandemic, with a polarized political electorate, and with protesters crowding the streets, one wonders if the American Era might be coming to an end. Wade Davis certainly would argue that it is. In a recent article for "Rolling Stone," he wrote about COVID-19 as a factor in “the unraveling of America." Davis shares his thoughts with Hari Sreenivasan.

Chris Hedges - The American Empire Will Collapse Within a Decade, Two at Most | November 19, 2018)

Here, Chris speaks with CBC Radio about his new book and predicts that the US empire will collapse within the next 20 years, probably within the next 10.

The 7 Signs Of An Empire In Decline

The common signs of all empires collapse from the Moores to the Romans to now the United States?

On Contact: Decline of the American Empire with Alfred McCoy

Alfred McCoy, Harrington Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains the decline of the United States as a global power and the rise of the Chinese empire.