Why America remains immutable world’s superpower -By Yakubu Almustapha

The bloody war which broke out between Russia and Ukraine has no doubt divided the public opinion worldwide. However, in the wake of the first day of this brutal fighting, debate reverberated where some people argue that the ability of Vladimir Putin to order the invasion of Ukrainian sovereignty at will, coupled with the insouciant attitude of US and NATO to respond the aggression with military might is a gesture of weakness due to palpable fear of greater retaliation from Moscow. This group are of the view that the former Soviet Union is now recuperating after its dissolution in 1991, and in just a matter of time Russia would rein the world again.

From the very beginning when the issue became a topic of discussion I discountenanced this notion, basing my argument of the fact that no solitary nation can take on US and its allies in any conventional warfare. If one thinks that Russia possessed the weapons of mass destructions, then he should also remember that its opponents too are nuclear power countries. Albeit, to some extent, I do agree that they are reluctant to engage them militarily because war is always the last option and Ukraine is not a member of EU countries, therefore the absent of US-NATO in warfront is out of question based on this rational.

At the same time, I was wondering if the Western world got it right in their decision to provide Ukrainian army with only military support, and as well as imposing economic sanctions would deter Putin from what he terms as “denazify” or “special military operation” mission. However, as days go by, my anticipation was befitting, that’s the resolution didn’t make much difference because the raining of missiles into Kiev and other major cities continues unabated. But on the one hand, the effects of international sanctions is unequivocally a stab in the back for kremlin’s decision makers.

However, as it is today Russia was economically isolated to the extent that some of its citizens are fleeing abroad for fear of unforeseeable repercussions, while assets of the wealthy oligarchs who have direct connection with Putin are being freeze in all over the Western States. Well, this single action taught me much cognizance about US supremacy, in the sense that the crime which it committed and got away with it, on the contrary is now leading a conglomerate of nations to punish another for doing the same felonious assault.

Recall, there was similar unjustified act of aggression against Iraq in 2003 when it was invaded under the pretext that it possessed a nuclear weapons which it was found out be a hoax allegation. Till date no punitive measures were taken against the Washington officials, and no single army officer was charged for war crime, let alone confiscating the assets belonging to their billionaires.

On the whole, to many those who are enthusiastic that the catastrophic Russia-Ukraine war may be evidence of American influence is waning and that one of either Russia or China is taking its place in due time, we are going to see whether this will be feasible in near future or not. In this case a certain guideline must be observed, so the moot question is what does it takes for a country to be a world’s dominant power?

Despite the fact that there is no exact definition of what requirements a country needs before it attain such status, yet experts have expressed a different opinions regarding the subject matter. Thus, the one that caught my attention is the lay down criteria which stated the standard as, superior military power, economic strength, diplomatic and cultural influences.

To start the breakdown with the military superiority of the threefold competitors. It’s easy in this category to find out that in terms of military strength US is on top of the list as world’s No 1, then closely followed by Russia as second, while China came third respectively. Then when it comes to military spending the story isn’t different being US is leading with approximately $778 billion defense budget, while China takes the second position with estimated spending of $252 billion, Russia falls into 4th position with $61.7 billion in military expenditure.

In economics value too America outmatched its rivals going by the GDP measures of each of the countries. it is never been disputed that US is the largest economy in the world with GDP of about $22.99 trillion. Coming a distant second is China with GDP of $17.7 trillion. But Russia lags far behind them economically, in fact its total wealth is a drop in the ocean compared to that of US, so to be fair in the analysis I singled out one State to juxtapose them financially. For instance, the State of California alone has a GDP of $3.09 trillion which outnumbered the Russia’s meagre $1.71 trillion.

As if that is not enough the trend stretched out to diplomatic influence where many survey groups ranked US as a leading nation based on the fact that it garners impregnable international alliances and political influence in all continents. I think this appraisal should not be unexpected to everybody with discerning minds considering that most of the head of governments across the globe are dancing to the tunes of Washington’s script.

Lastly, if this analysis which is conducted based on the aforesaid criteria is anything to go by, then there’s absolute no possibilities that the duo of Russia and China are potential superpowers in foreseeable future since it isn’t established that they have a superior advantage over US in all ramifications. Moreover, like I said earlier, I’ll say it again that no lone country can dominate US alongside its allies of 30 countries which comprises the likes of UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, etc. In all probability, the United States of America will remain the world’s only superpower for years to come.

Almustapha writes from Bauchi via talk2almustapha016@gmail.com