“The End of Pax Americana: The Loss of Empire and Hikikomori Nationalism,” examines Pax Americana and its lasting effects on Japan, as well as other countries and universities in the phenomenon of “area studies.” In an era when Pax Americana, as a colonial order, is in decline, Sakai sees a new order taking place that dislocates America and Europe (“the West”) from the center of world power. 

Today, Sakai observes Americans perceive a loss of empire in their everyday lives. The order of Pax Americana is extremely important to Americans, he said, even though most Americans are not aware of its presence in the world. “Americans take it for granted.” As a historian, Sakai is pessimistic about repercussions of the twilight of Pax Americana, which he calls “the most sophisticated form of modern colonialism.”

Sakai is at work on another book, tentatively entitled “Dislocation of the West,” that will provide a large theoretical framework for the issues raised in “The End of Pax Americana.”