If you look at the current press and book market, we seem to be at that point once again: The demise of the Western world is nigh, the United States are subject to comparisons with ancient Rome, Europe seems to be doomed to become a minor player in the future on account of its demographic problems alone. The current financial and economic crisis is doing the rest. Joseph S. Nye states: “Two great power shifts are occurring in this century: a power transition among states and a power diffusion away from all states to nonstate actors.”
