Title: American Magic: From Brilliance to Darkness

Abstract: Johan Galtung, a Norwegian writer published in 2008 a book entitled The Fall of the US Empire. This book declares the USA enjoys its “magic” Power, just as the Roman Empire did before. But the US Empire is bound to collapse, so long as its “magic” Power is gone, as the Roman history tells us. Professor Galtung’s prediction about “magic” Power is not something new. Earlier scholars like Karl Marx, Max Weber and Walter Benjamin, have talked over this topic one after another. Let’s listen to them why and how the US Empire went from Brilliance to Darkness, as its true manifest destiny.

Keywords: magic, illusion, Entzauberung der Welt, aura

Author: Zhao Yifan, Research Fellow, Institute of Foreign Literatures, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China.