Here’s a great piece by Jonathan Last at the Daily Standard on the downfall of the British Empire, and its disturbing parallels with the current US situation: Rule America? (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll.)

WHAT DOES MODERN HISTORY have to teach us about the age of American empire? The final chapters of the British Empire offer lessons and parallels aplenty. Empires don’t last forever, and the combination of martial victory, popular ennui, and liberal anti-patriotism is a dangerous mix for a superpower.