[Skybird]

You guys forget that the rest of the world for a multitude of reasons has pumped more money into the American capital market over the past 20, 30 years than there are any WWII debts or current US deficits and debts.

The US simply weants more military than it can afford by its own financial and economical power. Its economical resources, heavy industry and cars amongst others, have been relocated in the name of globalisation. One has spend much more than one had produced in fincial incomes, and a good deal for that, especially for the military, was investements that produced no future incomes. Meanwhilwe the education system has constantly detoriated while the power grid is said to represent the standard of a developement country.

In the past 600 years, practically all Euroean great powers and empires overstretched their military spending until breaking point. Practically all European great powers of the past 600 years went bancrupt over defence and war spendings. Some even repeatedly. The USA of today is repeating that megalomaniac mistake, for several reasons. For example it is thought that military superiority could compensate industrial inferiority.

The USA should and must give up the claim to militarily dominate all the globe. It simply cannot maintain that claim economically anymore. That means two things. First, the US needs to set priorities and needs to ignore hotspots that are not of direct interest for it. It already does a bit like that, but I think this trend will strengthen. Second, other nations, the European ones for example, must understand that either they give up certain military security interests being vital to them, or they take over responsibility for these, since the US will and can no longer maintain them all. The US focus of foreign policy already is massively shifting from Europe to the Pacific region anyway.

Adding to this the Euro-crisis and the flawed economic and financial design of the EU and Euzro-Zone, I think europeans are simply saying good-bye to playing a major role on the world stage.

What comes after Europe and the US, are China, India, Brazil and Islam in general - for better or worse. Most likely they will make the same mistakes the Western nations have made over the past 600 years. There is nothing new under the sun - except what has been forgotten since then.