Fading Superpower?

A favorite topic for many Washington politicos is how long will the United States hang on to its role as world's sole superpower. Most suspect the US will stand alone as top power well into the future, because other countries have not hurried to develop similar power or assume global responsibility and also because most world leaders appreciate how the US provides economic stability and security. Nonetheless, author David Reiff argues in the Los Angeles Times that US standing could slip away. Citing the examples of the Roman, Spanish, and British empires, Reiff concludes that US power has only one direction to move - downward - and he cites economic decline as a leading factor. The role of the US in world affairs, its standing as sole superpower, rests in the hands of US voters - whether they choose leaders who take on manageable and necessary tasks in the global arena or leaders who act recklessly, with ignorance and waste. The US confronts a choice, writes Reiff, "not between a second American century and anarchy but between a multipolar world in which we will play an important role and an anti-American century." – YaleGlobal