‘Damned if you do; damned if you don’t’ voices the strategic impasse the USA finds itself in today. Liberal interventionism and globalization—the two pillars of the international system—seem not to work. Explaining the inability of Western powers to enact wise initiatives, Corradi explores the de-coupling of political systems: we are connected with each other but disconnected from policy makers. The paradox of increased connectivity and collective disengagement sets a perverse dynamic between publics and elites, with a serious impact on world affairs. Corradi analyzes the social bases of present dilemmas and how incipient decline can be managed, and paralysis overcome.