AARP magazine
“Reading journalist Paul Starobin’s stimulating inquiry into what the world may look like when the United States ceases to be the dominant power is like sitting down for an evening of conversation with your smartest friend. You don’t necessarily come away with definitive answers, but you do get a better handle on the issues involved—and a more realistic outlook on the state of global affairs.”

Daily Kos
For readers of speculative bent, it’s hard to find a more grounded and commonsensical look at the next half century or so…Indeed, in looking at [Starobin's] credentials, it seems he himself might be one of the finest examples of a member of a universal civilization this country can produce at the moment, and in After America, he makes excellent use of his experiences, skills and obvious talent to take a stab at predicting the wildly unpredictable global future.

Publisher’s Weekly
“Starobin, staff correspondent for the National Journal, delivers a meticulously researched and up-to-the-minute analysis of the United States’ role in global politics, culture and society…The result is a narrative of extraordinary range and contemporary relevance”

Kirkus Reviews
“Relying on interviews with academics, businessmen, military experts and government officials, and reporting from places as diverse as a Chilean copper mine, a Washington think-tank and an Indian seaport, Starobin takes us on a Friedman-esque journey, making a plausible case for each imagined future, explaining … how America will fit into this new world, whatever form it takes. Creatively reported and provocatively argued.”

GoodReads.com
“A phenomenal example of speculative nonfiction that accessibly assesses the rise and plateau of American global dominance…Starobin is remarkably adept at examining those possibilities from several different angles and finding interesting anecdotes that illuminate each angle. A level analysis, and a truly thought-provoking one. Obama, take note!”

ADVANCE PRAISE

“In dark economic times, countries fall back on themselves and think of little beyond tomorrow. Yet these are always the times when tectonic shifts take place in global relations. Afterwards, the world is never the same. Paul Starobin’s After America is about afterwards, and it is eminently worth reading. It’s about the new world stirring within the old, and how, among other things, post-imperial multicultural California could be the harbinger of a future America unmoored from its global ambitions. Starobin is not really a typical journalist. He is much more of a historian of the present who combines superior analytical abilities with conventional reporting. He is just the right person to do this book.”
—John B. Judis, author of The Folly of Empire: What George W. Bush Could Learn from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson

“Declaring America in decline is easy, at least after George W. Bush. Harder—and far more interesting—is speculating about the world that will follow America’s reign. That’s what Paul Starobin has done: creatively, thoughtfully, and provocatively. A fascinating book.”
—Peter Beinart, author of The Good Fight: Why Liberal—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again

“How will America fare after the crises? What are its core strengths and weaknesses? What will happen to its great cities and regions? Will New York and Silicon Valley continue to grow while the flyover states and cities struggle to survive? These are the core questions Paul Starobin asks in his masterful After America. This closely researched and closely reported work provides a set of guideposts for our rapidly changing and resetting times.”
—Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, and Community

“Paul Starobin has traveled widely and thought deeply about America’s place in the world. His conclusions in After America—from the possibility of economic chaos to the reemergence of city-states—must be reckoned with as the nation meanders into a twenty-first century that may hold new promise but also poses frightening perils.”
—Peter Gosselin, author of High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families