In the spring of 1831, Tocqueville (then 25 years old), a judge's apprentice from French aristocracy, embarked on a nine-month trip to the United States with his friend Beaumont and wrote in "American Democracy," the masterpiece of American studies to this day: "I have seen things in America that are more than American. What do these words mean? To what extent is America a universal entity in today's world of "American decline" and "post-American world"? How should we understand and position the United States? In this lecture, we will discuss these issues with students, taking into account current trends.