American Power in the 21st Century

The United States government's National Intelligence Council projects that American dominance will be “much diminished” by 2025, and that the one key area of continued American superiority ? military power ? will be less significant in the increasingly competitive world of the future. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has called the 2008 financial crisis a sign that America's global leadership is coming to an end. The leader of Canada's opposition Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff, suggests that U.S. power has passed its mid-day. How can we know if these predictions are correct? One should beware of misleading metaphors of organic decline. Countries are not like humans with predictable life spans.