Is decline inevitable?: Several arguments against

Abstract

In the article, the authors challenge the main arguments regarding the inevitability of decline of the American power pointed out by the declinists. By citing the eight arguments against declinists' case, the aim is to show that in international relations there is no absolute certainty that something will happen that way most people expect, especially when assessing one's strength. Conventional wisdom often fails in front of the unpredictability of events and the determinism in international relations does not have it easy as in some other areas of human activity.

U ovom radu autori dovode u pitanje glavne argumente deklinista u pogledu neminovnosti opadanja američke moći. Navodeći osam argumenata protiv deklinističkih učenja, cilj rada je da se pokaže da u međunarodnim odnosima, pogotovo u pogledu procene nečije moći ne postoji apsolutna sigurnost da će se nešto desiti onako kako to najveći broj ljudi očekuje. Konvencionalne mudrosti često znaju da pokleknu pred nepredvidivostima dešavanja a determinizam u međunarodnim odnosima ima mnogo teže uslove za život nego što je to slučaj u nekim drugim oblastima ljudskog delovanja.