USA reaches 250 years with contested power, assesses Vitelio Brustolin

The United States completes 250 years of independence as the greatest economic, military and technological power on the planet, but in a very different position than it occupied at the height of its hegemony, after the end of the Soviet Union. This is what Vitelio Brustolin, professor of International Relations at UFF, assesses, in an analysis of the country's legacy and challenges at this historical moment.

For Brustolin, the 1776 Declaration of Independence was, so far, "a relatively successful declaration." The American Constitution, promulgated in 1787, remains in force, and its basic mechanisms "have survived wars, economic depressions, social transformations and constitutional crises".

Despite the historical solidity of the institutions, Brustolin points out that this framework has been put to the test in recent years. "The current president has already challenged this institutionality in his first term," he stated, referring to the invasion of the Capitol that occurred at the end of that government, an episode for which Donald Trump was tried on charges of attempted insurrection. For the analyst, this constitutes a significant internal challenge to the American democratic tradition.

The professor also recalled that the founding ideals of the United States - based on the ideas of the English philosopher John Locke and summarized in the maxim that "all men are created equal" - have always been contested throughout the country's history. "This has always been questioned due to racial discrimination, issues of slavery and then financial issues, social inequality", highlighted Brustolin.

On the external front, the analyst highlights that the United States, although still world leaders, no longer enjoys the undisputed supremacy it had between 1990 and the beginning of the 2000s, the period after the fall of the Soviet Union. "Most fellow analysts agree that there is a contested dominance of US power at this point," he said.

According to Brustolin, this contestation is mainly due to China's growth, which introduces into the international scenario what he calls a possible "Thucydides trap" - a concept that refers to the rivalry between established powers and emerging powers. The topic, according to the analyst himself, deserves further discussion in the debate about the future of American leadership in the coming years.

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Source: CNN