The United States was once the hope of the world, a beacon of freedom and the defender of liberal democracy. But as Bernard-Henri Lévy lays bare in this powerful analysis of the world today, America is retreating from its traditional leadership role, and in its place have come five ambitious powers, former empires eager to assert their primacy and influence. Lévy shows how these five—Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, and Sunni radical Islamism—are taking steps to undermine the values that have been a hallmark of Western civilization. The process did not begin with Donald Trump's presidency and is not likely to end with him. This leadership vacuum has roots in antiquity, suggests Lévy, and here he speculates on how the West could find a new way forward to help its principles survive.