American Decline and the Liberal Order

The national conversation about America’s potential “decline,” however defined, tends to rely on an understanding in which power is conceptualized in simple metrics rather than holistic terms. Consider the preoccupation with when the absolute gross domestic product of China will overtake the United States, even though the overall size of an economy is only one measure of economic power. Instead of worrying about the relative weakening of specific metrics, the United States should focus on renewing the liberal international order—a system that has both contributed to and benefited from its leadership for almost seven decades, while at the same time facilitating significant gains in global peace and prosperity.