A little over 21 years ago I determined for myself how this story is going to end, but kept my mouth shut. Then, a little over 17 years ago, I sensed a change in the wind and wrote the article "Post-Soviet Lessons for a Post-American Century" which launched my writing career. Since thenI have published three books and hundreds of essays, but I stand by everything I have written since the very beginning. Everything is going according to plan. I don't know whose plan it is, and I think that it's a really stupid plan, but everything is going according to it anyway. I hope that knowing what the plan is will save you and those around you from a great deal of senseless aggravation.