"America must manage its decline"

This article was in the UK Financial Times today. Such discussions would likely never appear in US media. Article author Gideon Rachman wrote:

"Recently I met a retired British diplomat who claimed with some pride that he was the man who had invented the phrase, “the management of decline”, to describe the central task of British foreign policy after 1945. “I got criticised,” he said, “but I think it was an accurate description of our task and I think we did it pretty well.” No modern American diplomat – let alone politician – could ever risk making a similar statement. That is a shame. If America were able openly to acknowledge that its global power is in decline, it would be much easier to have a rational debate about what to do about it. Denial is not a strategy."

No, but it seems to be working for most Americans nonetheless. The author continued:

"What is not permissible, in mainstream debate, is to suggest that there may be no “coming back” – and that the decline of American power is neither a fad nor a choice but a fact. Admittedly, America’s relative decline is likely to be much less abrupt than the falling-off experienced by Britain after 1945. The US is still the world’s largest economy and is easily its pre-eminent military and diplomatic power. However, the moment at which China becomes the world’s largest economy is coming into view – the end of the decade seems a likely passing point. Of course, it is true that China has its own grave political and economic problems. Yet the fact that there are roughly four times as many Chinese as Americans means that – even allowing for a sharp slowdown in Chinese growth – at some point, China will become “number one”. ---end---

A few years ago, people asked me quite often, "Where is America in the end days?" "Is the US mentioned in prophecy?" The US had been a superpower for so long and seemed so solidly in charge that it was unthinkable that we would not be a major player in the last days events, and unthinkable that we'd be omitted even from mention as one of those players.

Some end time watchmen twist the plain meaning of the scriptures to include the US as part of the events. For example, a famous Tribulation dream that Daniel had in Daniel 7:4 talks about four beasts, or one beast with four heads, "The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle" and some say that because the lion is the emblem the UK uses, that the lion stands for the UK, and that since America came out of the UK and our emblem is an eagle, that America is the eagle. That's a stretch.

The nations mentioned are Iran, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Syria...and others. These are all thousands of years old and the center of the beginning of hatred between Jacob and Esau, the location of the Garden of Eden, and the birthplace of Abraham. There is no reason the US should be mentioned any more than Canada or Mexico or Australia. The last days is not about us. We'll be judged as a nation like all the others, but not have any prominent role.

As for America's decline, the bible does have a strong reap-sow philosophy, remember. The Bible talks about reaping and sowing; blessing and cursing. Job 4:8 says, “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.” Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” In each of these examples, as well as all the many other references to reaping and sowing,  (Proverbs 22:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:8...) the act of receiving the rewards of our actions takes place in this life.

In Genesis 12:3 God said to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

The US was blessed mightily in geography, in military, in wisdom, in generosity and in economic bounty and finances. Then we squandered it. Even that is not as gross an insult to the Creator of our nation (Isaiah 14:26) as removing Him from all spheres of life. We accept His gifts but reject the Giver. We will pay.

"He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." (Jeremiah 18:6-10)

I think it is pretty arrogant that the US even thinks it can control its decline. As He set up our nation, He can destroy it. There is only repentance, obedience, and submission (blessing), or apostasy and atheism, rebellion, and lawlessness (cursing).

That China is mentioned in the article as on the horizon for the new superpower is no surprise. We know the end before it happens. The Kings of the East mentioned in Revelation 12 will come with a huge army. Some tie the vision John had in verse in Revelation 12 with the one in Rev 9:

"And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them." (Revelation 9:13-16). That's 2 hundred million. China has an army that large right now.

Suffice it to say that we are in decline, no it cannot be 'managed', and no we're not part of prophecy other than being blessed or judged like everyone else. It took the UK about 30+ years to decline. Ours has come in 3. Rather than a carefully 'managed' decline the speed with which we are hurtling down seems to me to be more of an avalanche. Anthony Walton said of the US, "America's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness, is our belief in second chances, our belief that we can always start over, that things can be made better." I have a strong suspicion that like the author of the news opinion piece, there will be no 'coming back.'
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