The American Century Is Over, w/ Daniel Bessner

In his recent Harper’s cover piece, “Empire Burlesque,” Daniel Bessner traced the evolution of the foreign policy vision that defined the so-called American century and how it has been reshaped by failures and a changing world order, including a new multipolarity and the rise of China. He draws a distinction between the liberal internationalists and the “restrainers,” the two dominant foreign policy camps in Washington, and he calls for planning a future beyond the American century. But can America act like a normal country?

Bessner, an Associate Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington and co-host of the podcast American Prestige, joined Dispatches with Rania Khalek to discuss this and more.

TIME CODES
0:00 INTRO
2:26 End of the American century
6:00 Election of Trump, rise of China
8:48 Liberal internationalists vs the restrainers
13:29 Liberal internationalists are winning
15:59 Isn’t capitalism the real problem?
19:29 Is restraint enough?
24:30 Expansionism
28:39 Great power rivalry trumps international cooperation
30:04 “Authoritarianism”
33:02 The left and foreign policy
37:33 Predicting the future
41:02 Is it possible to dismantle the American empire?
43:03 Evolution of the pro-war think tank industry
48:50 Is America causing its own demise?