powerhouse
a country can be an economic powerhouse. or it can be a military powerhouse. it can't be both. it's just too darn expensive. we've been the 800 pound gorilla on the block for quite some time now. like when we first beat up the taliban. lotta folks would like that to continue. but guess what. we're not the economic powerhouse we used to be. the only way to recover is to stay out of wars for a while. lessee my kids are still pretty young so maybe 100 years or so ought to do it.