6 Lessons for Post-Imperial America
What the Dutch and British Transitions Can Teach the United States
By Julian Scaff
As the 21st century unfolds, the United States faces the sobering prospect of relative decline, economically, geopolitically, and ideologically. While the U.S. remains a global superpower, cracks are emerging in its foundations: ballooning debt, deep political polarization, infrastructure decay, and growing global skepticism toward the dollar’s dominance. These signals echo earlier transitions faced by other global empires. Two instructive case studies are the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, whose imperial declines, though separated by centuries, offer powerful lessons for a post-imperial America.
Empires throughout history tend to follow a recognizable arc — from rapid rise through innovation, conquest, or economic strength, to a period of peak influence marked by wealth, cultural dominance, and military power, followed by gradual decline due to internal corruption, unsustainable debt, inequality, and overextension.
While timelines vary, most empires last between 200 and 300 years before collapsing or transforming under pressure. As Ray Dalio writes in Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order, “The biggest cause of empires declining is that they become less productive, less competitive, and more indebted.” No empire, no matter how powerful, has lasted forever; from Rome to the British Empire, all have succumbed to the cycles of history, underscoring the inevitability of decline and the need for renewal or reinvention.
From Maritime Masters to Trade Powerhouse: The Dutch Transition
I lived in the Netherlands for nearly a decade in the early to mid-oughts. I was somewhat aware of how the Dutch established colonies in foreign territories, including Indonesia, Suriname, South Africa, the Caribbean (such as Curaçao and Aruba), and parts of North and South America. They also played a central role in the North Atlantic slave trade by transporting hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans to these and other regions through the Dutch West India Company. However, that brutal history was totally at odds with the twenty-first-century Dutch society I witnessed, which was marked by multiculturalism, tolerance, and a strong moral code. Moreover, the modern-day Netherlands boasts a high standard of living, outstanding education, healthcare, public transportation, and public safety. What happened between their colonial slave-trading history and the society we see today?
The Dutch Republic was the world’s first true capitalist empire, peaking in the 17th century with its vast maritime trading networks, colonial outposts, and the dominance of the Dutch guilder as the world’s reserve currency. The Dutch were heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade through the Dutch West India Company, transporting enslaved Africans to colonies in the Americas and the Caribbean.
But by the 18th century, it faced military decline, increasing competition from Britain, and the limits of its overseas control. The Dutch gradually exited the slave trade in the late 18th and early 19th centuries due to economic decline, shifting political pressures, and the eventual abolition of slavery in Dutch territories in 1863. The formal end of the Dutch empire came after World War II, when Indonesia, its largest colony, gained independence in 1949.
What distinguished the Dutch transition was its pragmatism. Rather than clinging to imperial nostalgia, the Netherlands turned inward to invest in education, infrastructure, and technological innovation. It became a founding member of the European Union and embedded itself in a rules-based international order. Today, the Netherlands ranks among the world’s most innovative economies, thanks to a focus on high-tech manufacturing, logistics, and sustainable agriculture. The Netherlands also enjoys one of the highest standards of living and ranks among the happiest countries in the world, thanks to strong social support systems, high employment, excellent healthcare, and a strong emphasis on well-being and work-life balance.
The British Empire’s Long Decline
I have a confession to make. As a child and preteen, I was a total Anglophile. I loved British literature, humor, and Earl-Grey tea. When I was thirteen, I attended a British school outside Montreal, Quebec, and witnessed the full-blown propaganda of the British Empire. My teachers openly reminisced about the empire’s greatness, and taught us to sing “Rule, Britannia!” (No, I don’t remember the lyrics.) While I still admired Virginia Woolf, Monty Python, and high tea, I began to question the empire’s self-proclaimed moral superiority. In particular, their characterization of non-European people as “uncivilized” was completely at odds with my ethos and personal experience.
The United Kingdom’s empire was the largest in history, and its unraveling was slower, more traumatic, and more politically charged than the Netherlands. At its height in the late 19th and early 20th century, the British Empire spanned every inhabited continent and governed over a quarter of the world’s landmass and population. It committed widespread human rights violations, including the exploitation and displacement of indigenous peoples, brutal suppression of uprisings, forced labor, and famines exacerbated by colonial policies across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
After World War II, Britain lost India in 1947 and gradually let go of its colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Unlike the Dutch, however, Britain struggled to shed its imperial identity. The post-imperial period was marked by denial, nostalgia, and a deep reluctance to redefine national purpose.
The Falklands War, which I followed closely in the news in 1982, symbolized a surge of imperial nostalgia in Britain, as the conflict was framed as a defense of distant territory and national pride, evoking memories of lost imperial power and reinforcing a post-imperial identity. It is now widely seen as a futile and avoidable conflict, underscored by the lingering grip of imperial pride, while denying Argentina’s claims to sovereignty over the islands and resulting in unnecessary loss of life on both sides.
This identity crisis was compounded by economic mismanagement. In the mid-20th century, the British pound lost its status as a global reserve currency, triggering repeated financial crises. IMF intervention in 1976 symbolized the depth of the decline. While the UK eventually revitalized itself as an economic and cultural hub, it never fully healed its imperial wounds, and is now sabotaging that progress.
The Brexit movement, steeped in fantasies of sovereignty and control, reveals just how unresolved its post-imperial identity remains. Brexit has become a staggering self-inflicted wound, weakening the British economy through reduced trade, labor shortages, and investment declines, with long-term consequences that will likely hinder growth and global competitiveness for the foreseeable future. While the U.K. built up an impressive national healthcare system, national rail system, and a strong middle class several decades after World War II, those gains are now unraveling due to mismanagement and self-sabotage.
Lessons for the United States
The United States rose as a global empire in the early 20th century through industrial might, military victory in two world wars, and dominance in finance, technology, and culture. Its influence expanded through global institutions, alliances, and a vast military presence. However, today it faces signs of decline: rising inequality, political polarization, crumbling infrastructure, unsustainable debt, and the erosion of global trust. Like past empires, internal dysfunction and overreach threaten to undermine the very foundations of its power.
The U.S. empire has enjoyed a significantly shorter period of global dominance compared to the British and Dutch empires, with its peak lasting less than a century, roughly from the end of World War II in 1945 to the early 21st century. In contrast, the British Empire maintained global supremacy for over 300 years, and the Dutch for around 150 years at their height.
One reason for the U.S.’s comparatively rapid decline may be the unprecedented speed of technological change and globalization, which have redistributed economic and geopolitical power more quickly than in earlier eras. Internal polarization, unsustainable military spending, and growing inequality have weakened the American system from within, accelerating the erosion of its global influence.
The U.S. now finds itself at a similar inflection point as the Dutch and British empires during their respective declines. Having wielded global hegemony since 1945, with the dollar as the reserve currency and a vast military-industrial apparatus, the U.S. faces the mounting costs of empire: endless wars, fiscal imbalance, and declining public trust in government. As its unipolar moment fades, what can America learn from the Dutch and British experiences?
1. Pivot Early and Strategically
The Netherlands began pivoting from empire well before its collapse, investing in future industries like trade, logistics, and technology. The U.S. must do the same. This means accelerating investment in green energy, AI governance, climate infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. A late or haphazard pivot, as seen in Britain’s post-imperial period, could lead to economic stagnation and social unrest. Letting go of the pursuit of global military dominance is also essential to avoiding national bankruptcy, as the immense costs of maintaining far-flung forces and interventions drain resources better invested in domestic resilience and sustainable growth.
2. Reject Nostalgic Nationalism
Imperial nostalgia and fantasies of restored greatness prolonged Britain’s post-imperial malaise. Brexit was the culmination of this longing. America must avoid similar traps. National renewal will require abandoning exceptionalist myths and embracing a more honest, pluralistic identity. This includes reckoning with its own history of global interventionism, domestic inequality, and the lingering effects of slavery, racism, and the disenfranchisement of indigenous people. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission based on the South African model created by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu would go a long way to healing these persistent historical wounds.
3. Invest in Broad-Based Education and Skills
Both the Dutch and British governments expanded access to education to help their populations adapt to post-imperial economies. The U.S. must invest in education at every level, not only elite institutions, but public schools, community colleges, and vocational training. A resilient workforce depends on skills that match the demands of a changing global economy. The current decline of the U.S. educational system at all levels must be dramatically reversed.
4. Strengthen Multilateral Alliances
The Netherlands embedded itself in European institutions, amplifying its influence through cooperation. Britain, by contrast, increasingly withdrew from multilateral frameworks. The U.S. should recommit to international institutions, trade partnerships, and climate agreements, not as a hegemon, but as a peer among equals in a multipolar world. We could start by forming a North American Union with Canada and Mexico, featuring free trade and open borders while each nation retains political autonomy.
5. Manage Currency Transition with Realism
The dollar’s role as the global reserve currency is not guaranteed forever. If a shift toward a multipolar financial system occurs, the U.S. must manage that transition carefully. This includes controlling deficit spending, reducing reliance on debt-financed militarism, and reforming its tax system to ensure economic sustainability.
6. Redefine National Purpose Beyond Empire
Perhaps the most important lesson is to redefine what the U.S. stands for. Post-imperial Britain failed to articulate a compelling new identity. The Netherlands succeeded by positioning itself as a hub of innovation, trade, and diplomacy. The U.S. can still become a leader in solving planetary-scale problems: climate change, pandemic preparedness, global inequality, and responsible AI. But doing so will require humility, imagination, and a commitment to values beyond domination.
Solving extreme socio-economic inequality is crucial to America’s long-term prosperity and stability. Sustained disparities in wealth and opportunity erode social cohesion, fuel unrest, and undermine the foundations of a healthy society and economy. Economic inequality has grown so extreme that it has shattered the social contract, creating deep divisions and disillusionment, and must be urgently addressed to restore trust, renew civic unity, and redefine the nation’s purpose in the 21st century.
The United States should not fear the rise of China and India but recognize their ascendancy as an opportunity to foster a more balanced and multipolar world order. By supporting their modernization and integration into global systems, the U.S. can promote stability, cooperation, and shared prosperity rather than rivalry. Through peaceful cooperation, we could also discourage nations (starting with our own) from wasting money and resources on military arms races.
Conclusion
Empires rarely fall overnight, but their decline is often hastened by denial, hubris, and inertia. If the United States wishes to avoid the worst consequences of imperial decline, it must look to history, not to cling to it but to learn from it. The Dutch model offers a roadmap for resilience and reinvention; the British example warns of what happens when nostalgia and fear replace strategy. For post-imperial America, the choice is still open: graceful transition or chaotic unraveling.
References:
Dalio, Ray. Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail. New York: Avid Reader Press, 2021.
Elkins, Caroline. Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.
Emmer, Pieter C. The Dutch Overseas Empire, 1600–1800. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2020.
