The most recent (May 12, 2008) issue of Newsweek featured respected columnist Fareed Zakaria's new book, "The Post-American World", on the cover.

Here's an excerpt. This is included here, not as a complaint, but rather as another wake-up call for American patriots.

Americans are glum. In April, a new poll revealed that 81% of Americans believe that the country is on the "wrong track." There are reasons to be pessimistic - a financial panic and looming recession, a seemingly endless war in Iraq, and the ongoing threat of terrorism.

American anxiety springs from something much deeper, a sense that large and disruptive forces are coursing through the world. For the first time in living memory - the US does not seem to be leading the charge. Americans see that a new world is coming into being, but fear it is one being shaped in distant lands and by foreign people.

Look around: The world's tallest building is in Taipei, and will soon be in Dubai. The largest publicly traded company is in Beijing. The biggest refinery is being constructed in India. The largest passenger airplane is built in Europe.

The largest investment fund on the planet is in Abu Dhabi; the biggest movie industry is Bollywood, not Hollywood. Once quintessentially American icons have been usurped by the natives. The largest Ferris wheel is in Singapore. The largest casino is in Macao, which overtook Las Vegas in gambling revenues last year.

America no longer dominates even its favorite sport, shopping. The Mall of America in Minnesota once boasted that it was the largest shopping mall in the world. Today it wouldn't make the top ten.

In the most recent rankings, only two of the world's ten richest people are American. These lists are arbitrary and a bit silly, but consider that only ten years ago, the United States would have serenely topped almost every one of these categories.

New leaders WILL emerge.

• Newsweek - The Post-American World
• Review on Amazon.com - The Post-American World
• The Rise and Fall of Empires