It could be that, despite all their occasional huffing and puffing, that the European elite is happy to stand aside and have the U.S. act as the world's tough guy. They get the global hierarchy enforced, yet get the opportunity to seem all high-minded. Canada too.
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Yes. This is absolutely a possibility.
In "Decline and Fall..." Gibbon briefly discusses nations which gladly surrendered to Roman authority because local elites understood and enjoyed the benefits (to their power) of a guaranteed hierarchy. Of course, they were obliged to acknowledge domestic discontents but rhetoric rarely led to action.
And...., complex systems exhibit inertia. Hard as it is to believe given our current set of inepts, Washington's post WW2 system was cleverly designed. It looks more irrelevant with each passing day but supports a towering structure of real and imagined dependencies. It's hardly surprising that government and corporate managers in Europe and Asia are reluctant to rock such a profitable boat.
.d.