A Review of the 1980s Debate in American Studies over the “Decline of the United States”and the Present “Theory of American Decline”

　　Abstract: This article presents an introduction to and analysis of the academic debate initiated in the United States in the 1980s over American decline. The article focuses especially on two key scholars, the first being Paul Kennedy, the key proponent of the Theory of American Decline, and the second Joseph Nye, the key advocate of the Theory of American Revival. The article offers a comparative analysis of these two theories. It argues that the theoretical questions raised in this debate continue to have both academic and broader social importance today, and warrant continued attention. These include: the question of the applicability of the historical comparative method, the question of how to view the relationship between continuity and change in historical development, and of how to measure a state’s power, the relationship between hard and soft power, and the influence and impact of culture on international politics. In closing, the article offers some thoughts regarding how we might appraise contemporary American power and about which parts of this earlier debate might apply to the current discussions of the “Theory of American Decline.”

　　Author: Li Chenghong is in the School of Advanced International and Area Studies of East China Normal University