Explores America's rise as a world power--from the 1890s through the Cold War--and its bid to extend its hegemony deep into the twenty-first century through a fusion of cyber war, space warfare, trade pacts, and military alliances. McCoy analyzes the marquee instruments of US hegemony--covert intervention, client elites, psychological torture, and worldwide surveillance. Peeling back layers of secrecy, he exposes a military and economic battle for global domination fought in the shadows, largely unknown to those outside the highest rungs of power. McCoy devotes his final chapter to laying out a series of scenarios that make the case for the inevitable decline of the American empire and the rise of China. --Adapted from publisher description.

"Dispatch Books." "This book was published with the generous support of Lannan Foundation and Wallace Action Fund"--Title page verso.

Introduction : US global power and me -- Part one. Understanding the US empire. The world island and the rise of America -- "Our S.O.B.s" : America and the autocrats -- Covert netherworld -- Part two. US strategies for survival. A global surveillance state -- Torture and the eclipse of empires -- Beyond bayonets and battleships : the Pentagon's wonder weapons -- Part three. Dynamics of US decline. Grandmasters of the great game -- Five scenarios for the end of the American century.