America’s Place in the New World By CHARLES A. KUPCHAN

The New York Times  (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/americas-place-in-the-new-world.html?scp=2&sq=Kupchan&st=Search)

April 7, 2012

America’s Place in the New World

By CHARLES A. KUPCHAN

Washington
IT’S election season again, and the main contenders for the Oval Office are knocking themselves out to reassure Americans that their nation remains at the pinnacle of the global pecking order. Mitt Romney recently declared that “this century must be an American century.” Not to be outdone, President Obama insisted in his State of the Union address that “anyone who tells you that America is in decline” doesn’t “know what they’re talking about.”
Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama might overdo it a bit, but they’re actually not far off the mark. Despite two draining wars, sluggish growth and a diffusion of power from the West to China and the “rising rest,” a combination of economic resilience and military superiority will keep the United States at or near the top for decades.