dollar's decline = hegemonic decline
Washington's new realism is more than a revision of the devastating neoconservative muscle-flexing of the Bush years. Faced with an internationally weakened position, a declining power is attempting to use its restrained capabilities in a more economical way. After two decades of U.S. and European principles dominating international policy through a web of multilateral organizations, the West no longer has the leverage to enforce its conditions.
CFR's Jagdish Bhagwati says U.S. must alter its approach to developing nations.