United States May Be Losing Its Credibility and Influence Article Review

United States in decline -- again? The answer if one is looking at the question during the year that this article was published (2007) is yes, the U.S. was in decline in many ways -- and continues to be in decline. In Michael Cox's scholarly article clearly points out that following World War II, and the subsequent Cold War years, the U.S. was considered hands down the strongest nation in the world. Communism was on the decline, which was a point in America's favor after those Cold War years of outreach by both capitalism and communism to try and impose influence on nations all over the world.

Cox is correct when he says that Ronald Reagan has been "almost completely rehabilitated by a new generation of historians" who, when comparing Reagan to George W. Bush, see Reagan in a different light altogether. Maybe it is the fact that "hindsight is 20-20" or that George W. Bush was so pathetically shallow, but Cox is correct when he implies that Reagan, too, was shallow (albeit he was called the "Great Communicator" because of his actor's skills). What Cox doesn't mention is the fact that a veritable coup occurred within the Reagan White House; or at least, one could call it a "cell" (a term commonly used in reference to a terrorist "cell" that plans attacks on Westerners) when Oliver North and John Poindexter and others made a secret, stealthy deal with Iran (the Ayatollah Khomeini) to sell Iran weapons and give the money to the Contras in Nicaragua (after Congress had passed a bill making it illegal for the U.S. Government to fund the Contras).

Meanwhile, Cox correctly explains that notwithstanding the fact that Reagan was basically a naive and handsome actor who knew little about the world, he later was being heralded (especially by conservatives and Republicans) as a "liberator and hero." And as to Cox's assertion that what goes up must come down in terms of the idea that great nations always have their downward plunges, it is doubtful that the U.S. will fall down or back down notwithstanding all the enormous challenges (terrorism, economic troubles, social upheaval, racial strife and the emergence of the far right Tea Party) and extremism by those elected to the House of Representatives.

Response to Article Critique from a Student

It is true that the U.S. For the most part maintains "great…