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Six reasons to keep America as No. 1 superpower

Many around the world say American decline would preserve global stability through a better balance of power. They’re wrong, says Steve Yetiv, a political science professor at Old Dominion University. It’s not that other countries or international institutions can’t play vital roles. They do. But they can't yet do what Washington does around the world, Yetiv says. Here he gives six examples.

3. Keeping the Asian balance of power

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Were America to weaken significantly and to decrease its strong military commitment to Japan, Tokyo would likely increase defense spending significantly and shelve Article 9 of its 1946 constitution, which states that “land, sea and air forces, as well as any other war potential, will never be maintained.”

At present, Washington does want Japan to do more to balance China, but US withdrawal from Asia could trigger a regional arms race, leaving all countries less secure and possibly hurting regional and global economic stability.

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