Is American declining.... or is the World gaining?

Here is a link to an artic recently published by an online version of Al lazeera commenting on an intelligence article written by the United States government on the US and global forecasts in the upcoming future.
Al Jazeera English - Americas - US power 'to decline by 2025'

History is not static. There is an ebb and flow of every country's strength, be it economic, territorial, militarily, et. cet. Such as it was with the Ottoman Empire, Roman Empire, Nazi Germany, Persian Empire, the British Empire, but you can see what I"m driving at.
Let's get one thing straight. The United States isn't perfect. Mistakes have been made throughout its history along with spectacular successes. For those who regularly look at the negative side of America have to consider from where their prejudices lie. Do you look to and listen to only people who already agree with these prejudices? If a man stands at the bottom of a valley without bothering to climb the hills to see over the horizon, he can only listen to people who live in the valley at their word. True or not.The United States will not diminish, but I believe that other countries will grow. Far from not wanting this, the US should and will prosper with the lessening of its global burdens

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The Russian Agenda

The Russians are playing a game of realpolitik.
They've recognized with the transition of power form the Bush Administration to President-elect Obama that a golden opportunity was afforded them to help bolster their security needs.  As well as try to establish some sort of a sphere of influence in their former satellite countries.
They saw the weakened Bush administration could and would not be able to do anything when they invaded their neighboring country over the Ossetian mess.
But now they're threatening to place short range missiles near the Baltic states borders that could easily strike most of Europe.  IN what they call a response to the missile shield that Bush had put forth to protect Europe from rogue middle eastern states nuclear missile attacks.  The few interceptors that could possibly engage the incoming missiles in flight MAY be enough to deter small states plans to launch but never be able to stop a determined Russian missile attack.  Clearly the Russians are trying to reassert some form of dominance in the area.
And now this: the possiblility of Russian bombers capable of delivering nuclear bombs to the United States based in Cuba.
Testing.. always testing are the Russians.
It may not be a cold war and hopefully never a hot one, but for right now the Russians are tryying to get every advantage they can get from this time of controlled confusion in the US.  They may perceive our elections as a weakness to be exploited. I see them as a reaffirmation of the strength of the American system. 
Flawed as this slightly imperfect democracy, it is clearly a role model for the world.  Finally.  Once again.
WE shall soon see what comes next.....

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