It's not like the US did massive world wide power projection (capabilities) out of altruism. It's a necessity to project their political and economic demands.

If the US citizen think being a super power is to expensive, that's fine for the world. No empire lasts forever. The US can become an important regional power, having its destiny more influenced by the upcoming super powers that fill the vacuum.

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giardini 39 minutes ago | parent [-]

The USA has never been an empire.

And there are no "upcoming super powers" that are remotely able to "fill the vacuum".

	▲	bulbar 14 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Power vacuums get filled, obviously. Why even maintain such a vast navy to consume money in international waters? Just protect your immediate coast line, why would you care what's going on in the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic, that's just costing money.