"What the figures don’t show at all is the unspoken tradeoff in the global system, a grand bargain that has persisted for a half century: to wit, Europeans and Asians (except for China) will agree to forgo serious military power and strategic dominance in exchange for acknowledging (again, tacitly) that the United States will play that role. This way they get to maintain their generous welfare states and their high McKinsey living standards."
Be careful of biting (or standing by gleefully as others attempt to bite) the hand that feeds you.
It's possible Europe and other detractors may be right....the US may very well be a power in decline. But I'd wager that after the initial glee of "the big arrogant US finally got their come uppance" wears off there is going to be a fair amount of pants pissing wondering how they are going to protect themselves.....how they are going to continue funding their little socialist utopias without the umbrella of US paid for security to protect them.
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