Lecture Abstract

American politics, and US foreign policy with it, seem to most observers to be suffering from an uncharacteristic funk. There is a consensus, too, that the Western world as a whole shares some elements of the American funk, as the decay of traditional parties in France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and elsewhere – and as atypical dysfunction in liberal democracies from the United Kingdom to Israel – suggest .

There is no consensus, however, on the definition of the funk, why it is happening, or what it portends for the wider world. Rather, a super-abundance of overlapping and competing explanations and predictions makes it hard to grasp current realities. But fear not: The key, irreducible reasons for what is happening are discernible. These reasons simply go deeper than conventional understanding, which always proves shallow in the patient light of historical perspective. Want hints of a deeper understanding?  Then come hear Dr Adam Garfinkle, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at RSIS, discuss “What Ails America”.

About the Speaker

Adam Garfinkle is on a year-long engagement at RSIS as Distinguished Visiting Fellow.  Aside from being Founding Editor of The American Interest, Dr Garfinkle has served as Editor of The National Interest, as Principal Speechwriter to the U.S. Secretary of State while attached to the Policy Planning Staff of the State Department, was chief writer of the Hart-Rudman Commission reports, and has taught at several institutions of higher education including SAIS/Johns Hopkins. His PhD in International Relations is from the University of Pennsylvania.