The Longest Two Decades of the US: The Story of Four Crises

Kılıç Buğra Kanat

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9783031898310
• eBook ISBN:
  9783031898327
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book chronicles the pivotal transformations in the United States from 2001 to 2021, with a particular focus on its evolving global image, internal political dynamics, and economic landscape. The phrase "the long two decades" describes a period characterized by a succession of four major crises that profoundly impacted American society and politics: the 9/11 attacks, the invasion of Iraq, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Intriguingly, these contemporary crises parallel four significant events of the 20th century—Pearl Harbor, the Vietnam War, the Great Depression, and the Spanish Flu—that similarly reshaped the nation’s political and social landscape. The book provides historical contexts, examines the duration of these crises, and explores their aftermath effects on American society, while also underscoring the unique differences among them.

Table of contents

• The Longest Two Decades of the US: The Story of Four Crises
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• 1. What Went Wrong in the United States?
• 2. A Short Euphoric Decade
• 3. The Day(s) of Infamy: From Pearl Harbor to September 11
• 4. Wars of Choice, Wars of Regret: Vietnam and Iraq’s Legacy
• 5. The End of the American Dream (Again): From Great Depression to the Great Recession
• 6. It Is Just Flu(s)!: From Spanish Flu to COVID-19
• Conclusion
• Index