Malcolm Kyeyune, a writer for UnHerd and expert in geopolitics, joins host Philip Pilkington to tackle the pressing issue of Western decline. They discuss how historical precedents, from Oswald Spengler to contemporary challenges, highlight a stagnation in military and cultural narratives. Kyeyune delves into generational disillusionment, examining millennials' struggles with the American Dream. The duo also explores the chaotic impact of the Trump administration and debates whether the West is on a path to recovery or inevitable decline.
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insights INSIGHT
Western Decline: A Question of How, Not If
The West's decline is no longer a question of if but how.
The key question is whether this decline is cyclical or terminal.
insights INSIGHT
Potemkin Villages in the Military
The US military industrial sector is in decline, focusing on maintaining a facade rather than true strength.
This mirrors a broader trend in the West of prioritizing appearances over addressing underlying issues.
insights INSIGHT
Spenglerian Decline in the West
Oswald Spengler's theory of civilizations suggests decline begins when a culture stops striving for progress.
The West's focus on preserving the status quo indicates a potential Spenglerian decline.
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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Edward Gibbon
This magisterial history, written by Edward Gibbon, covers the peak of the Roman Empire, the history of early Christianity, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the rise and fall of various other empires and civilizations up to the fall of Byzantium in 1453. Gibbon's work is renowned for its thorough scholarship, diverse sources, and engaging prose. He argues that the Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasions partly due to the gradual loss of civic virtue among its citizens and critiques the role of Christianity in the empire's decline. The work was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789 and has remained a seminal work in historical literature despite some criticisms from modern scholars[2][4][5].
The End of History and the Last Man
Francis Fukuyama
In this book, Francis Fukuyama posits that human history is moving towards a state of idealized harmony through the mechanisms of liberal democracy. He argues that liberal democracy is the final form of human government, driven by two powerful forces: the logic of modern science and the struggle for recognition. Fukuyama draws on the philosophical ideas of Hegel and Kojeve, suggesting that liberal democracy meets the economic and psychological needs of humanity, including the desire for recognition and dignity. The book explores the implications of this thesis, including the potential paradox that the satisfaction of basic needs might lead to a lack of outlets for human striving and recognition[2][3][5].
The decline of the West
Oswald Spengler
Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Faust, written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is a two-part dramatic work that tells the story of a scholar named Faust who, dissatisfied with his life and seeking infinite knowledge and power, makes a pact with Mephistopheles, the Devil's representative. Part I focuses on Faust's despair, his pact with Mephistopheles, and his tragic love affair with Gretchen, which ends in her downfall. Part II is more allegorical and symbolic, following Faust through various experiences, including his life at court and his encounter with Helen of Troy, before his eventual salvation through God's grace and the intercession of Gretchen. The work is renowned for its blend of lyric, epic, dramatic, operatic, and balletic elements, and its exploration of theological, mythological, philosophical, and cultural themes[1][4][5].
Malcom Kyeyune is a writer for UnHerd and many other titles. He is a big thinker in the realm of geopolitics, military strategy, and social organisation. In the first episode of Unknown Knowns, Kyeyune sits down with host Philip Pilkington to discuss the biggest arc of all: Western decline. After all, it is no longer a question of if, or even when, but how Western decline occurs.
The past five years have seen a major breakdown in the system’s ability to re-order itself. The US military is increasingly a paper tiger. In Germany, we’ve now got insipid ‘grand coalitions’ whose sole purpose is to block out the rising AfD, the first retrenchments in the car industry since the war, and a doubling of the national debt ceiling. Britain has seen riots, the bankruptcy of its second city, and an effective police state in matters of speech take hold to quell the palpable sense of national unease. The BLM era shook the fundaments of Western self-belief, and Covid saddled it with unmanageable debt.
Kyeyune and Pilkington discuss the deep roots of Western decline. From the theories of Oswald Spengler, to Edward Gibbon, to Karl Mark to Julius Evola: prophets of doom have been around forever. The true question is: can the West recover? Or is it locked into an inevitable path?
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