책冊

Lee Jung-min's 『How America Collapses: A Portrait of a Shaking Empire』 is a book published in June 2026. Beyond criticizing America or evaluating Trump personally, it directly addresses the structural changes that have led to America no longer being able to function as the 'world's policeman' or the absolute guardian of liberal democracy as it once was. The author, a 24-year veteran KBS reporter who served as a Washington correspondent for three years starting in 2021, directly witnessed the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza, and the 2024 US presidential election. Based on those experiences, he asks: What is happening to America, now that it has shed its crown? What has made America run so wildly out of control? This question is not born of curiosity, but from a serious inquiry into the reality that the order America itself created is cracking both internally and externally.

The author's core argument is clear. The changes America is exhibiting today are not temporary phenomena stemming from Trump personally or his whims. It is a fundamental paradigm shift created by the collective will of the American people, who chose Trump twice. The superpower that once championed itself as the 'world's policeman' and defended liberal democracy no longer exists. Americans themselves no longer consider their country an absolute superpower, and an atmosphere of focusing on domestic issues and reducing global roles has become dominant. The author emphasizes that to understand this change, one must read the deep terrain underlying the surface of Trump. Through long observation, including his time as a Washington correspondent, he confirmed that a widespread psychological and political shift, where people are unwilling to bear the burden of hegemony, is already underway within American society. This was not a resurgence of isolationism, but a sign that the very identity of an empire was beginning to waver.

Part 1 deals with the twilight of hegemony.

Particularly symbolic is the interview with Elbridge Colby, introduced in Chapter 1. Colby, a key figure in the Trump administration's defense policy, frankly states that the interests of the ROK-US alliance do not necessarily align, and that South Korea should bear more of the defense burden. This reflects the perception already widespread among strategic elites that the US can no longer manage alliances indefinitely with 'leeway.' This statement is not a threat, but rather shows that the US has begun to redefine its allies not as 'protected entities' but as 'cost-sharing partners.'

Chapter 2 identifies the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan as a turning point. This event demonstrated to the world that the US lacked the will and capacity for long-term occupation and nation-building. The sudden withdrawal after decades of intervention sent a signal to both allies and adversaries that the US was no longer a 'superpower that takes responsibility to the end.'

Chapter 3 analyzes how the Russia-Ukraine war created deep cracks in the international order led by the United States. While continuing to provide support, the US revealed the limits of direct intervention, and differences in opinion with European allies, along with public fatigue at home, emerged simultaneously. The war showed that the US could still mobilize resources, but at the same time, it exposed the limits of those resources and the fragility of its political will.

Part 2 depicts an empire crumbling from within.

The United States is burdened by astronomical national debt, and its military power, once dubbed the 'Empire of Ten Thousand Armies,' is now riddled with holes. Weakening defense industrial base, difficulties in recruiting personnel, and limitations in maintaining simultaneous fronts are becoming apparent. Socially, the end of the 'American Dream' has reached a critical point. Deindustrialization, the collapse of the middle class, economic decline in rural areas and small towns, extreme polarization, and political division have fueled anger and frustration. This anger is analyzed as a significant driving force behind Trump's election. The author points out that these internal vulnerabilities are not merely domestic issues but fundamentally constrain the sustainability of foreign policy. For an empire to project power externally, it must be supported by internal cohesion and resources, but that foundation is crumbling. The decline of the middle class and regional disparities have deepened political polarization, and as a result, the United States is becoming a nation where even domestic consensus is difficult to achieve. In this situation, maintaining global leadership is becoming an increasingly unrealistic goal.

Part 3 deals with the competitive dynamic with China.

The United States no longer seeks to manage the entire world. Instead, it is scaling back to a 'hemispheric strategy.' An example of this is the move to prioritize the defense of the Western Hemisphere and establish a dual defense line including Greenland, northern Canada, and the Panama Canal. This is akin to a modern revival of the classic Monroe Doctrine. In the Middle East, the U.S. is caught in a maelstrom, having lost both power, justification, and leadership. Military tensions related to Iran or aggressive moves against Venezuela around 2026 are not merely regional conflicts but occur within the larger strategic context of containing China and maintaining energy and dollar hegemony. However, such limited intervention is actually widening the vacuum in the world order, a vacuum that China is filling. China is challenging the petrodollar order by dominating renewable energy, strategic minerals, and supply chains. While the U.S. is reducing its fronts, China is systematically filling those empty spaces, and this is taking the form of a long-term competition across economics, technology, and resources, rather than a military confrontation.

Part 4 deals with America's last desperate gamble.

Big Tech and cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins, could serve as technological and financial means to extend weakened hegemony. They are attracting attention as new tools that complement or replace the existing dollar order, but their effectiveness will inevitably be limited if fundamental trust and institutional foundations are shaken. No matter how advanced technology is, it cannot be a force to sustain hegemony if it is not supported by political and social cohesion. In the epilogue, the author concludes that the nature of alliances has already changed. Alliances that once shared values and trust are now degenerating into 'transactional relationships' that weigh benefits and costs. The ROK-U.S. alliance is no exception. The core warning is that the level of defense cost sharing, technological and industrial cooperation, and geopolitical contributions demanded by the U.S. will inevitably increase, and Korea must establish its own proactive strategy for this. If alliances no longer mean an automatic protective shield, Korea must fundamentally rethink how it will define and pursue its own security and interests.

The strength of this book lies in the combination of its on-the-ground reporting and analytical power. The author captured vivid voices through interviews with key figures such as the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, a Hamas spokesperson, and a Russian exiled diplomat, and added academic depth based on over 400 references. The vision that connects internal divisions within the U.S. and the reduction of external strategies not as separate issues but as a single structure is impressive. In particular, the fact that a Korean author captured the core of the divisions that can only be seen 'outside of America' differentiates this book from existing theories on the U.S. While Americans are engrossed in their internal debates, an external perspective more clearly reveals that the decline of hegemony is already well underway.

Ultimately, 『How America Falls Apart』 declares that an era has arrived where the United States creates its own battle lines and expands its battlefields. While America remains a powerful military and economic nation, internal divisions and the consequences of strategic choices have made it difficult to maintain its past hegemonic status. This change poses a significant challenge to allies, including South Korea. It is a time that demands new strategic thinking beyond dependence on the United States. The questions the author poses in this book ultimately return to ourselves. What choices will we make in the face of a wavering empire? If America's changes are not temporary but a structural transformation, how will South Korea survive and protect its interests amidst the waves of that transformation? This book does not directly provide answers to these questions, but it makes the questions themselves an unavoidable reality.