Tagline: Why the Unipolar Moment Failed — and What Must Come Next
The U.S. Empire Is Imploding
Since the end of World War II, the United States has failed to achieve its major military, economic, and geopolitical objectives. Instead, it is showing clear signs of internal and global decline:
1. De-dollarization: Many countries are shifting away from using the U.S. dollar in international trade—largely because the U.S. has weaponized the dollar through sanctions. This threatens the core of U.S. financial power: the ability to exchange digital dollars (created at zero cost) for real global commodities like oil, food, and metals.
2. Failed Wars: The U.S. has suffered military and political failures in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and now in its proxy war in Ukraine—costing trillions and thousands of lives, while producing no meaningful long-term gains.
3. Economic Fragility: U.S. military power has been funded by debt. The Treasury has steadily borrowed to finance wars, but demand for U.S. bonds is falling, and many countries are dumping their dollar reserves—further weakening Washington’s global leverage.
4. Military-Industrial Addiction: The only consistent winner in this process has been the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC). Its budgets have grown regardless of success or failure on the battlefield. Even after the Cold War ended, the Pentagon’s appetite for conflict only increased.
Economic Collapse and the Limits of Reform
The U.S. economy is hurtling toward what may be a crash worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s. The crises of 2008 and 2020 revealed that traditional reforms—bailouts, stimulus, interest rate changes—merely delay the inevitable.
– Quantitative Easing (QE) provided liquidity to financial markets but encouraged speculation rather than real growth.
– Quantitative Tightening (QT) and rising interest rates now risk triggering a systemic collapse.
– Debt addiction is unsustainable, and even the most powerful government cannot escape the math of compounding liabilities and shrinking real productivity.
True recovery would require structural reform—such as a new version of the New Deal, re-prioritizing industrial capital and reducing finance capital’s dominance. But there is little political will to take on Wall Street, and even less unity in Washington.
The Deepening Political and Institutional Divide
Internally, the U.S. ruling class is increasingly fractured:
– Disagreements over military aggression and intelligence strategy began in 2001, with divisions over the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
– Under Obama, proxy wars widened the divide further.
– Trump’s election highlighted a rupture between traditional elites (the CIA, FBI, Democratic establishment) and more populist-nationalist factions aligned with Trump, including some elements of law enforcement and the military.
These splits affect every branch of government: the Executive (CIA vs. White House), Legislative (party gridlock), Judiciary (politicized rulings), and even local governments—as sheriffs and states defy federal mandates.
Collapse of Credibility and Rise of Dissent
The public no longer trusts U.S. institutions:
– The WMD lie in Iraq (2003), the fabricated Russiagate narrative, and the propaganda surrounding Ukraine have all undermined official narratives.
– Independent journalists and whistleblowers, like Julian Assange, have been persecuted for revealing state crimes.
– Blackmail, assassinations, and cover-ups have become common tools of foreign and domestic policy—behavior more akin to organized crime than democratic governance.
At the same time, alternative powers—Russia, China, Iran—have gained legitimacy for resisting U.S. hegemony through defensive strategies and multipolar diplomacy.
Why Full Spectrum Dominance (FSD) Failed
1. Static Worldview: The U.S. assumed that history had ended, and that global power could remain unchallenged forever. It failed to anticipate dynamism and resistance from other powers.
2. Economic Contradictions: Printing dollars to fund global wars while deindustrializing at home is unsustainable. Repeated bailouts (1989, 2008, 2020) merely postponed collapse.
3. Rising Global Opposition: Countries no longer accept U.S. domination. China, Russia, and others are building alternatives to Western systems—economically, politically, and technologically.
4. Loss of Moral Legitimacy: The U.S. has become known for invading weak nations, spreading propaganda, suppressing free speech, and enriching a tiny oligarchy. These are not values that inspire trust or loyalty abroad.
Conclusion: A Turning Point in History
Another severe economic crisis looms. Avoiding global catastrophe requires urgent structural change—not just economic, but political and media reform as well. True democracy must replace oligarchy.
To achieve this:
– Laws must be passed limiting finance capital and restoring industrial growth.
– Media must be decolonized to enable informed public debate.
– Elected officials must represent the majority, not the wealthy few.
– Candidates should commit to reform before elections and be subject to binding recall referenda if they break promises.
As analyst Andrei Martyanov warns:
“If the Globalists defeat Russia, they will ‘finish the job’ by breaking Russia into pieces, then turning to China, Iran, and any other state that dares to resist them… The rest of the world would be forced into obedience. But if they fail, the era of unipolar dominance will end.”
We stand at a crossroads between empire and democracy, collapse and renewal. The choice must be made now—by the people, for the people.
Mohamad Shaaf, MBA, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Central Oklahoma. He is an empirical research analyst whose scholarly work spans a wide range of economic issues, employing Artificial Intelligence, dynamic programming, and advanced econometric modeling. His publications appear in numerous professional journals, and his scholarly record can be accessed via Google Scholar under “Mohamad Shaaf.” He can be reached at mshaaf@uco.edu or drshaaf@gmail.com.
Mohamad Shaaf, MBA, PhD 