September 11th was not the first time a world power has “received a staggering blow but then scrambled to recover from the wound,” says historian Paul Kennedy. The British struggled with the guerilla tactics of the Afrikaaners in South Africa a century ago. Russia got beaten up by the Japanese around the same time. In these and other cases, the established power went through a period of introspection, followed by a period where concrete steps were taken to evolve so that the loss would not happen again. The United States has gone through its reflective period following September 11th. This hour, Paul Kennedy shares the changes the nation needs to make to maintain its role as the world’s superpower.
Guests:
Paul Kennedy, professor of history and director of International Security Studies at Yale University
