借用英国历史学家汤因比简练又力的话来说，美国的境况应当归咎于美国领导人“自杀式的治国之策 ” 。 汤因比用这一词语来总结帝国崩溃的最终原因。
It is American leaders’ “suicidal statecraft,” to use Arnold Toynbee’s pithy phrase for what he considered the ultimate cause of imperial collapse, that is to blame for America’s plight.