American Global Dominance: To Be Sustained Or Suspended?

US surpassed the UK as the largest economy since the late 19th century and has maintained its supremacy by virtue of its mightiest military in the world, its geopolitical attributes and state-of-the-art innovative mechanisms.

- Jijun Ran

Its global hegemony was further cemented after the collapse of the USSR, with other countries competing for regional leadership. Its global dominance was supported by four interacting pillars: financial institutions, military buildups, scientific innovations and cultural attractions.

The post-WWII international financial order was built upon the hegemony of US dollars. As the sole hard currency dovetailed with gold, US dollars attracted the lion’s share of the world gold reserves and hijacked the world economy through central banks of different countries enchanted with monetarism to finance the American warfare and its economy.

The US military preponderance rests with its global alliance network, covering all strategic quarters around the world through its 100-plus military bases, delivering 300,000 military combatants capable of waging two regional wars simultaneously and controlling the hubs of pipelines transporting energy serving as the blood vessels of modern industry. Underlying this military might is the astronomical military expenditure, which amounts to 716 billion US dollars in 2018, beating the sum of countries ranking 2nd to 15th, which is still on the rise.

The US boasts the best incentive mechanisms for scientific and technological innovations. The US took a decisive lead in the fields of fundamental sciences and military science, its excellence best illustrated by such leading scientific projects as Manhattan Project, Apollo Program and Human Genome Project. The US still reigns supreme in Artificial Intelligence and other cutting edge technologies. Its unrivalled highereducational system serves as a cradle for leading scientists and its generous scientific funding is a compelling invitation to talents around the world.