History Has Begun
The Birth of a New America
What if America hasn’t yet peaked? What if a new America has only just begun?
Longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2021
Description
Popular consensus says that the US rose over two centuries to Cold War victory and world domination, and is now in slow decline. But is this right? History’s great civilisations have always lasted much longer, and for all its colossal power, the US was overshadowed by Europe until recently. What if this isn’t the end?
Bruno Maçães offers a compelling vision of America’s future, both fascinating and unnerving. From the early American Republic, Maçães takes us to the turbulent present, when, he argues, America is finally forging its own path. We can see the birth pangs of this new civilisation in today’s debates on guns, religion, foreign policy and the significance of Trump. What will its values be, and what will this new America look like?
Reviews
‘There’s no better man to guide us on the differences between Europe and America than Bruno Maçães. …. [History Has Begun] is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the country that invented itself — and the modern world.’ — The Sunday Times
‘Brilliant and wildly provocative, [Maçães] not so much turns history on its head, as inside out … a wonderfully contrarian essay on the future of world politics … challenging to the last sentence, it has been the stimulating and fun read of the year so far.’ — The Evening Standard
‘A refreshingly bold and deeply thought-stirring book.’ — John Gray, The New Statesman
‘A fascinating survey of the decline and possible rise of the American empire.’ — The Wall Street Journal
‘[A] unique voice … exhilarating.’ — The Wire
‘As a kind of counterpoint to his insightful books on the rise of Eurasia and China’s One Belt One Road initiative, Bruno Maçães has written an absorbing, ruminative essay on the United States. Whereas his exploration of Eurasia was a true journey over that vast landmass, here he encounters America in his library and his imagination. Between Europe, oppressed by history, and China, intoxicated by technology, the United States still offers some hope of reconciling power and liberty.’ — Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford, and author of Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire and The Square and the Tower
‘The future never matches the conventional wisdom. Bruno Maçães gives us the special gift of charting a future for the United States and the world that may be very different, and quite possibly much better, than what we expect.’ — Marc Andreessen, entrepreneur, investor and cofounder of Netscape
‘This insightful book makes bold and counterintuitive arguments. The international system is poised for the flourishing of cultural and political diversity among nation states. At the same time, this can and should be another American Century. This round requires the United States creatively to remake itself inside and out.’ — Kiron K. Skinner, Former Director of the Office of Policy Planning, Department of State
‘Bruno Maçães has written an erudite, thought-provoking exploration of how the world is affected by a post-truth America, an America where the line between reality and entertainment is no longer discernible, and where the hallowed concept of the “West” is losing its meaning.’ — Yaroslav Trofimov, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
‘A rich, digressive, aphoristic book.’ — Ross Douthat, journalist and author of The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success
Author(s)
Bruno Maçães holds a doctorate in Political Science from Harvard University. He is a former minister of European affairs in Portugal. In that role he represented his country in Brussels during the eurozone crisis, the first Russo-Ukrainian war and Brexit. He has published four books since 2018, mostly focused on geopolitics, China, Russia and technology: Belt and Road; History Has Begun and Geopolitics for the End Time, all published by Hurst; and The Dawn of Eurasia. In 2019 he was a fellow at Renmin University of China. Since 2020 he has been a fellow at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels. As a risk consultant, he has advised some of the largest companies in the world on geopolitics and technology.
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