How Powerful Is American Culture?

I normally avoid starting an article by referring to what someone has said on social media; commentary about commentary can feel like an elevated form of gossip. But today I’m making an exception, on account of this much-ridiculed tweet by the Portuguese author Bruno Maçães: “For the first time in 100 years American cultural power is almost nonexistent outside US borders.” An absurd remark, you might say, given the pervasive influence of American language, TV, music, fashion, politics and indeed social media platforms in western countries and beyond. But when Maçães tried to defend his statement, he raised an intriguing point.