About this episode
The episode discusses Paul Kennedy's predictions about U.S. decline in the context of current military and economic challenges.
Subscribe now for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! HAIH Premium subscribers got this episode (with no ads!) on Monday, May 4. The United States' failure to defeat Iran in an unprovoked, undeclared war is fueling the notion that the U.S. is in decline. Its security commitments cover the globe. The annual defense budget is approaching $1 trillion. But the Pentagon can neither defend its Persian Gulf bases from low-cost drone attacks nor reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Forty years ago, a Yale historian named Paul Kennedy argued in a best-selling book that the U.S., like all great powers, could not avoid relative decline, especially if it failed to square means and ends. In those days, the national debt was $3 trillion. Today, it's soaring toward $40 trillion. Our guest is one of Paul Kennedy's old students, historian Jeremi Suri. Jeremi Suri teaches history at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He writes the Democracy of Hope newsletter and co-hosts This is Democracy podcast. Further reading: The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
People in this episode
Host: Martin Di Caro
Guest: Jeremi Suri
Topics covered
- U.S. decline
- military strategy
- historical analysis
- national debt
- Iran conflict
- Paul Kennedy
Keywords
- U.S. decline
- Iran
- Paul Kennedy
- national debt
- military strategy
- Jeremi Suri
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: LBJ School of Public Affairs, Democracy of Hope, This is Democracy
Books & works: The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Places: United States, Iran
More episodes of History As It Happens
- The First Palestinian Uprising · May 8, 2026 · 50 min
- Madman Diplomacy, Nixon to Trump · May 1, 2026 · 51 min
- Chernobyl, 40 Years On · April 28, 2026 · 43 min
- Where's Russia? · April 24, 2026 · 42 min
- What is Greater Israel? · April 21, 2026 · 50 min
- Giulio Douhet's Kind of War · April 17, 2026 · 36 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the History As It Happens podcast page.