The 20th century has been labeled as "the American century," while the beginning of the 21st is identified as a time of decline for the United States. Is American governance still functioning within and what weight does the United States carry on a global level? The course provides an analysis of the emergence of the country as a world power throughout the 20th century, up to the presidency of Obama, within the framework of the new methodological approach of transnational history. The exceptionalist model no longer applies and American history is in need of revision. Students will therefore deal with the major issues of domestic policy while analyzing the new role the United States has come to play in the past few decades globally. The goal of the course is to provide students both with a general methodology for the study of the United States in a global sphere and an understanding of American politics and society in the past century.