Power and Willpower In the American Future, by Robert J. Lieber

It is no surprise to American Thinker's sophisticated readers that the meme of the day is that America is in decline and will not retake her place in the world.
Mark Steyn's recent article in NRO is typical:

The Sun Also Sets

I was in Australia earlier this month and there, as elsewhere on my recent travels, the consensus among the politicians I met (at least in private) was that Washington lacked the will for meaningful course correction, and that, therefore, the trick was to ensure that, when the behemoth goes over the cliff, you're not dragged down with it. It is faintly surreal to be sitting in paneled offices lined by formal portraits listening to eminent persons who assume the collapse of the dominant global power is a fait accompli. "I don't feel America is quite a First World country anymore," a robustly pro-American Aussie told me, with a sigh of regret.

Robert J. Lieber, Professor of Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University, has a more optimistic -- and I think better balanced -- assessment of America's present situation in his new book: Power and Willpower in the American Future: Why the United States Is Not Destined to Decline.  Professor Lieber doesn't ignore or easily dismiss the considerable challenges we face right now. Taking a longer, historical view of things, however, he says we are a country that has repeatedly shown great flexibility, resilience, capacity for change and course correction and that good leadership, willpower and careful policy will restore America to its former place in the world: "Much remains to be done in domestic as well as foreign policy," he concludes after a substantial review of the difficulties we face domestically and internationally, "but the robustness of American society coupled with its unique capacities for adaptation and adjustment are likely once again to prove decisive."

His book is due to be released in early May but can be preordered at Amazon.