Is the US finally about to fall victim to imperial overstretch? Despite years of speculation, the country’s position as global military, economic and financial hegemon has to date remained intact.
But Washington’s status may be about to be hit by fast-changing geopolitics and geoeconomics — and the habit, picked up by the US this century, of borrowing from tomorrow to pay for wars today.
The conflict in Iran has been costing an estimated $2bn a day in short-term direct costs. The ratio of US public debt to GDP is set to breach its historic post-second world war high. And President Donald Trump has submitted to Congress a national defence budget request for 2027 of an astonishing $1.5tn, double the figure for 2020.