The precedent for the United States is the decay of Pax Britannica, a decay that many believe created the necessary, if not sufficient conditions for the two world wars of the 20th Century. The outcome was twice global war, the second preceded by depression. The decline of American power most likely would lead to a similar outcome. A world without U.S. primacy will be a world with more violence and disorder and less democracy and economic growth than a world where the United States continues to have more influence than any other country in shaping global affairs. The sustained international primacy of the United States is central to the welfare and security of Americans and to the future of freedom, democracy, open economies, and international order in the world.
Critics assert that it is futile for the United States to pursue primacy.
First, although U.S. hegemony is qualitatively different from the hegemonies of the past in that it eschews territorial conquest, U.S. power, benevolent as it may be, is likely to engender resentment on the part of other states. One consequence will be increasing resistance to U.S. leadership, possibly undermining the various multilateral institutions that America requires to ensure that it does not bear the burden of international security alone. Another, more serious consequence might be that disaffected states will attempt to join against the United States. These are legitimate issues that must be factored in by U.S. policy makers. For primacy to be effective, it would be necessary for the United States to maintain such overwhelming power that others would not even think of challenging it.