America's Power Decline a Pseudo-Reality

While Dan Kervick´s perception of power as relative is "deep" his non-application of this concept of power to the U.S. is strange and makes his argument about the "decline" of the latter shallow and misleading. In his second post he uses ironically by a mental lapse the misconception of "absolute power" to demonstrate the decline of U.S. power. But the U.S. post the Cold-War is still "six inches" taller than all the other countries of the world and therefore according to his reasoning still remains, in relative terms, the dominant power. Unless he can show that any other nation or group of nations have grown "taller" or are very close to becoming so than the U.S., the "decline" of the latter in terms of power is a pseudo-reality. Moreover, to refer to the indisputable fact of the economic development and strength of countries in Europe and in Asia as a demonstration that America is becoming in terms of geopolitical power weak contradicts the also obvious fact that economic power is not automatically translated into military power, as both Germany and Japan illustrate.

David Hume´s "habit of obedience" is natural in a state when other countries are threatened by another strong power as it was during the Cold-War, but it becomes unnatural in an "anarchic" competitive world when that threat is no longer there. And, indeed, Kervick argues in those terms during the confrontation with the Soviet Union. However, the habit of obedience in relation to the sole superpower has not disappeared but is in a state of hibernation. With the looming real threat of IslamoFascism it will come out of its dormant state and move once again to its natural state, as presently, among all the nations of the world, only America can decisively defeat this menacing mortal enemy of Western civilization.

I rest on my oars: Your turn now