Another voice
David Selbourne is right about empires in decline, but wrong about Islam
28 April 2007
The hottest months are July and August, though the summer solstice, when the sun is highest, is in June. There’s a time-lag. Thus it is with empires, too. By the time they burn brightest, the fuel is already beginning to run out.
So David Selbourne is right about one thing. The American empire has passed its zenith. More disputable is his implicit suggestion that America and the world are heading for some kind of nemesis. And he is mistaken, I reckon, to conclude that Islam will prove that nemesis.
Writing in The Spectator two weeks ago (‘Why there will be no future Pax Americana’), the distinguished essayist, author and thinker had sniffed the wind and concluded that it is all up for what he calls the US ‘imperium’. Islam has been Washington’s undoing, he believes, and after six short decades as top dog of the world, America is already stumbling and set to lose her predominance.
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