"Donald Trump is not the harbinger of America’s decline; he is the product of it. .." - Robert Zaller in "Farewell, Empire: How the American Century Ends"

"Donald Trump is not the harbinger of America’s decline; he is the product of it. Only a nation in decline could have produced such a figure, and he is not only incapable of administering an empire but even conceiving it. It is tempting to say, good riddance, for we have been poor at the job except in exporting our cutthroat brand of capitalism. A prudent withdrawal from our failed and improvident wars, such as Barack Obama apparently conceived but failed to implement, would have enabled us to concentrate on urgent problems at home: inequality, infrastructure, energy transition. Trump, having cast an initially skeptical eye on them, has fallen into eager lockstep with the military-industrial complex, and, with the exception of Syria, where he conceded influence to his best buddy Vladimir Putin, he has proved more hawkish than even Hillary Clinton might have been: in fact, no administration in our history has placed itself so willingly in thrall to the military."

- Robert Zaller in "Farewell, Empire: How the American Century Ends"