The real problem the United States confronts is not that it will be overtaken by China or another contender, but that it will face a rise in the power resources of many others — both states and nonstate actors. Our problem will be entropy — the inability to get work done. We will face an increasing number of new transnational issues that will require as much power with others as it does power over others.
This is a world that requires networks, institutions and the soft power of attraction. In a world of growing complexity, the most connected states are the most powerful.