The United States will lose its position as the world's only superpower by the year 2015, Saddam Hussein's eldest son predicts in his doctoral dissertation.
The thesis by Odai Hussein says the U.S.-led 1991 gulf war led to a drop in Washington's power, because eight years after U.N. sanctions were imposed on Iraq, Baghdad still can defy American dictates.The 400-page thesis predicts a decline in America's economy and morality - it points to high U.S. crime rates - and says the United States will be eclipsed by other nations.
"The American state will not be in possession of the same international influence it enjoyed in the 1990s. It will retreat domestically at a time when new states will attain a superpower position," said the study.
Titled "The Post-Cold War World," Odai's work uses economic statistics to predict that Japan, China and Germany will soon be superpowers.
Thousands of copies were distributed to the public free this past weekend - complete with a cover depicting a victorious Saddam on a white stallion spearing a retreating snake - presumably representing the United States.