Wednesday, December 1, 2021. [Moved back one week to avoid conflict with Thanksgiving.] Is the American Empire in retreat? Roman troops met their match in German forests and Parthian deserts, and there was decay at home, and suddenly, the Roman Empire was gone. America saw the limits of empire as helicopters lifted escapees from the American Embassy in Saigon in 1975, and then again in a dramatic exodus from Kabul in 2021. We keep learning that our military power can destroy but it cannot build. China is growing and aiming at world-wide supremacy, and Russia is straining to recover its super-power. At home there are signs of decay, as our democracy is challenged, millions resist cures for a pandemic and our spirit is tested. Is this the twilight of American ascendance?