It’s too soon to tell whether the American empire has reached a point of no return, but I think it may be when Presidents began lying about events and issues of critical importance -- the Gulf of Tonkin “attack”, weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Russian involvement in US politics -- and Congress went along with those lies. That undermined US citizens’ faith in their government, causing it to become increasingly dysfunctional. Whether that faith can be restored is an open question.

Over the same time period the American economy and business began to convert from a focus on products to a focus on money and management. MBAs, accounting credentials, and law degrees became more valued and sought after than engineering degrees. That led to a loss of manufacturing jobs, and ultimately of product development, to other countries, undermining US workers’ faith in the US economy. Whether that faith can be restored is another open question, but whatever happens it seems doubtful that the American “empire” can ever be restored to what it was after World War II.