With recent events on Wall Street, the balance of power in the world is being altered irrevocably. - Inspired by John Gray, The Observer

On one hand it is hard to see how the balance of power is not shifting. The US has engaged in two ruinous wars, one unnecessary (Iraq) one misguided (Afganistan should have been a focused and targeted police action) both of which are an enormous drain on human and economic resources. The current near collapse of the financial system as a result of totally free market capitalism exposes the US to more dependence on foreigners who own so much of the national debt. This is house of cards that will depend on the kindness of strangers to maintain. They may turn out to be not so kind in the long term. Over 8 years power has been squandered and drained from the economic, military and political spheres. On the other hand the heart of the American power dynamic is the tremendous intellectual and innovative capital that can renew American power over the long term, provided that the leadership of the country can focus on re-building the educational, social (including universal health care) and physical infrastructure required at home to maintain the global lead in areas such as technology, innovative thinking and entertainment. When you think about it American technology thinking and entertainment as an expression of American culture continues to dominate the world and has far more impact on other cultures and ideas than the projection of American military and political power ever had. This why embargoes of other countries is mostly counter productive for American ambitions. Embargoes raise resistance and drive others to other sources, even when they long for American technology and culture. Technologies, ways of thinking and managing, entertainment, are the Trojan horses of culture and they carry tremendous influence in the world. Cuba might still be a socialist state but it might be a very different social democratic state if the US had not imposed an embargo of American products on the island for so long.The Russian government wants to ban programs like the Simpsons and South Park from television in Russia. They realize that American projection of thinking and culture is a far greater threat to the hegemony of the current regime than anything the stretched American military can present at this time. -- Mel Blitzer

I think it was probably over awhile ago, or at least its been on that road for awhile as America's respect in the world has gone down. Not to mention China's immense economic growth within the last few years. While America could still come out of crisis, too much ground has been lost to completely regain what it once had.

Perhaps voiced from a once dominant powerhouse, a call for a balance of power is more relevant than ever. The fall of Wall Street has opened the door for a world economy worth convening on. What is needed is a revised model of capitalism to shape global finance (global economic summit, anyone?) to discuss the mechanics of universal banking, a restructuring of global currency, trade regulations, and a long term plan for sustained economic growth---the root of conflict is embedded in an imbalanced world economy, a signal for some real alternatives.

America is still the colossus bestride the world...culturally, militarily, and economically. China will cease to exist in its' current form within 30 years. They are a paper tiger.

The word 'irrevocably' changes a seemingly reasonable statement into a gross exaggeration. Also, the rise of China and India, and the revival of Russia, have been going on steadily for years and cannot be blamed on the recent events in Wall Street. The article itself compares the recent events to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the British Empire, but both these events also entailed the loss of large amounts of territory, so it's not a valid comparison. Naturally, a columnist in a left-leaning European paper can't resist a bit of 'I told you so'-ing, but realistically, the USA managed to emerge from much worse events which occured in the Great Depression, so the current crop of doomsday predictions are probably rather exaggerated.

"Irrevocably" eh? I thought you were supposed to be observant, John. Nothing is irrevocable. Even the Russian economy is now rebounding. The poor performance of the US economy is a symptom -- not a cause. Aren't you a US citizen, John? How are you helping the economy? Is propagating the very negativity of which the poor performance of the economy is but a symptom really going to help? The problem with the economy is that currently everyone is out for him/herself, especially journalists who, in desperate need to write something, continue to jump on the bandwagon and write whatever it is that seems likely to get them some attention. I thought big ideas were supposed to go against the grain of conventional wisdom. You are a brainless parrot, John.