I feel sad for pool in the US. So many things have diminshed and damaged it through the years that it's hard to pinpoint any specific cause. I laugh when I hear people come up with phrases like "one pocket is a superior game" and "bar box pool is much tougher than playing on a 9 footer".
Straight pool was never much of a gambling game. When you play straight pool, you can't hide your skill and the strongest player usually wins, or always, depending on how long the race is. That is why it's the superior championship game. It's a game for straight shooters literally and figuratively. One pocket is a carnival game, a gaff game for hustlers and old people who can't shoot straight anymore. That is not to say there are no interesting shots, but it should never determine the champion of the sport, IMO.
For most of the time pool has existed, the US has ruled supreme. Now you all play bar box, handicapped pool or one pocket, and others are taking over. It's not the fault of one pocket of course, it's just that pool as a sport never had any real chance in the US. The hustlers killed or sabotaged all attempts at making pool legitimate and now you are left with no pro tour, no sponsorships, no real sport at all. One pocket is a way to make a little money, so that's what is being played. The hustlers chose that for you, not any particular federation. As long as the hustlers are in charge, you will all be robbed and deprived of proper management of the sport.
Snooker was transformed from a back room gambling novelty into a proper sport, and it's thriving. Pool in China, Japan and parts of Europe is trying to take the same path, and doing much better than pool in the US. Asians play rotation games, Europeans play rotation games and straight pool. Those are shooters games. There is no hide and seek or 3 card monte in the olympics, but there is shooting and running. Precision and performance sports, not trickery at least not inherently. While pool will never be in the olympics, the future is the sport direction.