The narrative that mediocrities have tried to peddle over the past decade regarding the supposed decline of U.S. dominance in the face of China is a lie that the data mercilessly debunks. Although opinion forums are filled with rhetoric about a changing of the guard, economic reality shows that we are witnessing a competition in which the seat of current supremacy has no room for Eastern occupants.
While Beijing boasts of its massive factories, the cutting-edge technological frontier remains under Washington’s absolute control, which holds seven of the ten companies with the highest market valuation globally. It is even irrelevant that China graduates more engineers if those professionals end up subordinate to a sophisticated semiconductor architecture that they still cannot replicate without external assistance. And what about the dollar, a currency that lacks a real alternative.
Furthermore, the United States projects its power through a defense infrastructure that includes military bases and security pacts—a network of alliances that China cannot match with its second-rate tactical partners.
That structural superiority is now spilling over into the realm of the beautiful game, where the recent opening of the World Cup made it clear that institutional control has changed hands. Europe’s historic dominance and Brazil’s sporting magic have succumbed to the brute force of American investment and the political influence of Donald Trump, who has allied himself with FIFA to turn soccer into another avenue for national economic expansion.
The ability of American business leaders to modernize global soccer infrastructure demonstrates that capital is abundant when the vision is broad. And this same firm hand that renovates stadiums is the one that solves security problems that local governments are unable to manage on their own.
The definitive elimination of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, occurred not by chance but thanks to an airstrike coordinated by the Southern Command that wiped out that threat on Venezuelan soil. It is proof that Washington’s reach extends to any corner where order is necessary to protect its interests.
Even in the most geographically tense hotspots, such as the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s resolve has forced a peace agreement with Iran that reopens vital maritime trade routes. Ordering commercial vessels to start their engines and resume transit is an act of authority that only a true superpower can carry out without hesitation.
China faces insurmountable demographic and financial barriers that prevent it from claiming the throne, while the United States, despite its internal divisions and polarization, continues to set the pace of world history.
We live in a time when fragmentation frightens the weak, but for those of us who understand the language of power, it is clear that the eagle has not lost a single one of its talons and remains the sole engine keeping the planet in motion.
