America’s undying empire: why the decline of US power has been greatly exaggerated

For more than a decade, people have been saying that the era of US dominance is coming to an end. But in reality there are still no other global players to rival it

In recent years, the idea that the United States is an empire in decline has gained considerable support, some of it from quarters that until very recently would have denied it was ever an empire at all. The New York Times, for instance, has run columns that describe a remarkably benign" American empire that is in retreat", or even at risk of decline and fall.

Yet the shadow American power still casts over the rest of the world is unmistakable. The US has military superiority over all other countries, control of the world's oceans via critical sea lanes, garrisons on every continent, a network of alliances that covers much of the industrial world, the ability to render individuals to secret prisons in countries from Cuba to Thailand, preponderant influence over the global financial system, about 30% of the world's wealth and a continental economy not dependent on international trade.