U.S. as a Superpower vs. Reality

During the last few weeks in the Leadership Gateway course, we have had an ongoing discussion of superpowers in today's world, including the involvement and the right of the United States to call ourselves a superpower. The article by Christopher Layne clears up this argument for me, describing in detail the reasons that the United States has been considered a superpower, and theories of strategy and economic interdependence, which create international relations.

I definetely do not see any paranoia in Layne's theories and present predictions for the world, specifically the United States in the universal sphere. Neither do I believe that he is necessarily prudent, rather quite realistic, but I will definetely argue for the prudent side over paranoid. Prudent is defined as someone who is careful, sensible, and marked by good judment. They are wise in handling practical matters, exercising good judgement, and common sense (1). Layne's view is that the United States has achieved hegemony, but that will only last so long especially if we continue using the same strategies, and when another country or multiple countries, rise to power, there will be nothing that we can do. He says "when a state wins too much, it loses (2)!" This has been true with any world powers until this day, speaking in a global sense, where those nations that have risen to the status of 'superpower,' at some point can no longer relate to the rest of the world because of continuously changing strategies in interdependency and many other factors. There is nothing paranoid in thinking that the U.S. will not remain a superpower forever; this is in fact the truth, that power will eventually rest in the hands of another country.

In the political and economic world, with interdependency between countries, there is no doubt that the United States is a vital leader. Who knows what could happen if the United States loses power as a 'superpower.' We have remained for some time in this position, and therefore, the connections have grown and it is normal to always think of the U.S. related to almost everything in some capacity. Yet we have begun to over-use the power as Layne speaks of, and this is why eventually, we will not remain in this position.

I like how the author writes the beginning of his paper and how he emphasizes the reliance of countries on the U.S. because this also is true. It is interesting how he writes of the time when power will switch to another country and the possible outcomes of this; war and an incredible change in the economy because of a dependence at this time on the present superpower, the United States. He states very practically the existent truths, yet also realizes the possibilities of the next few decades and how drastically world relations could change.


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prudent

https://blackboard.american.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_40193_1