Enemies’ return did not restore America’s dynamic sense of purpose.

Evidence

Given America’s political landscape in the 2020s, Baudrillard’s diagnosis seems prophetic. There are enemies everywhere now—from Tehran to Moscow to Beijing; not to mention Palestine’s embattled defenders in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq—but scant recovery of a “spirit or genius.” Although America’s status as a world hegemon appears nominally secure—a formal empire stretching from Okinawa to Guam via Ramstein and Incirlik; unchallenged control over the global reserve currency; the most influential culture industry and most powerful armed forces in human history—the costs of America’s faltering machine have become acutely clear. The assorted patch-ups for the malaise—globalized cheap labor, bottomless household debt—began to come unstuck in 2008; the next round of fixes—quantitative easing, near-zero interest rates—fueled a housing crisis while channeling funds to tech monopolies and the super rich. — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 4

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘enemies everywhere, no spirit’ paradox is the geopolitical mirror of Jäger’s core hyperpolitics claim: total saturation without durable change.