WEB EXCLUSIVE: Intelligence Squared debate report – ‘The era of American dominance is over’

There were few facts and plenty of fictions last night as Intelligence Squared debated whether the era of American dominance is over. Oliver Kamm, journalist and author, proposed the motion. He strode about the stage Cameron-style, with the sound bites to match. “America was on the wane because Americans had lost the appetite to lead.” US dominance rested on guaranteeing “public goods: international trade, currency reserves and collective security.” His vision of American decline owed nothing to the “tendentious deterministic theories of the milieu of anti-American Oxbridge educated Europhiles, such as Michael Moore and Harold Pinter”, (neither of who went to Oxbridge). Rather, Kamm’s vision was “rooted in indisputable facts”. The recession’s price is that America can no longer guarantee public goods. Low yielding dollar assets will encourage Asian savers to invest elsewhere, robbing America of its financial lifeblood. Kamm highlighted Kuwait’s withdrawal from the dollar currency peg as indicative of the upheavals America cannot sustain. Insular self-interest will replace intervention. “America will remain number one, but will need to protect the interests of number one. The ‘buy American’ clause manifests that change”.

Kamm was forceful and Sir Christopher Meyer, sporting trademark scarlet socks, responded by admitting he was considering defection. However, he disputed Kamm’s indisputable facts. America was not always dominant and power should be measured against that exerted by others. China, Russia and the EU were “economic basket cases” brought to their knees by, you guessed it, a “global financial crisis started in the American sub-prime market”. An unwelcome presence suddenly filled the chamber. ‘Broon’ inspired rhetorical overload ensued until Meyer challenged Kamm’s central thesis. The only nation capable of rescuing the world economy was the nation responsible, and its people wanted to lead. The world would recover when American consumers regained confidence. Rather than waning, America would be enhanced.