The Fiscal Cliff Will End The Era Of The U.S. As A Superpower

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord

America's Superpower Status Goes Over the Fiscal Cliff -- Mackenzie Eaglen, Aol Defense

As our 2013 forecast series continues, American Enterprise Institute scholar and frequent AOL contributor MacKenzie Eaglen takes a grim look at the strategic consequences of the fiscal cliff. (Click here for the full series of forecasts so far).

The nation is heading over the fiscal cliff, an economic triple threat -- tax hikes, spending cuts, and, soon thereafter, the debt limit -- that has been forecasted by government agencies to throw us back into recession. Fix that, and government funding may still run out in March when the current continuing resolution expires, since Congress never got around to passing the 2013 appropriations bills. Tasked with solving these successive crises is the same President and, with modest changes, the same status quo Congress that failed to fix them last year. It's exhausting, living constantly on the edge.

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My Comment: The death of the U.S. military 's long-standing 'two-war construct' was more than enough proof to me that the days of the U.S. as a super power were coming to an end. With massive budget cuts on the horizon, the question now becomes .... how much of the military is going to be left when everything is cut, and will we be able to have the resources to fight a 'one-war construct' and still be able to win.