The Atlantic

The American Dream on Thin Ice

A decision by the International Olympic Committee has all but guaranteed a loss for Team USA in hockey. But don’t count them out just yet.
Source: Brian Snyder / Reuters

Editor’s Note: Read all of The Atlantic’s Winter Olympics coverage.

It’s an undeniable fact that the United States’ standing as an international power has taken a serious hit over the past year. And this emerging, still unfamiliar reality is about to be put on full display. As America falls a few notches in the eyes of its peers, Russia and other nations stand to gain in tremendous ways.

This dire-sounding analysis centers on—what else?—the Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament, which as the United States faces Slovenia and Russia tussles with Slovakia in the first two

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