What if the World Doesn’t Need the U.S.?

I begin this article with an uncomfortable truth.

The U.S. economy is massive, but it’s no longer indispensable.

Yeah, I said it. Take a breath. Given what we’re experiencing right now, you probably, at least, thought it. I just said it out loud. (Well, in print.)

For much of the postwar era, the United States was the engine, the GPS, and the gas station of the global economy. We set the rules, bought the goods, and charged admission. Our dollars, like VISA, were accepted everywhere. Our military provided the security for every geopolitical club, whether they liked it or not. Our consumer market offered a buffet of fattening delights that everyone wanted to eat.

But now? We’re still loud, fat, and loaded. But if the rest of the world decided to plan a potluck without us, they might pull it off. Would it be easy? No. Would it be quick? Definitely not. But in this increasingly multipolar world, it’s looking more plausible by the day — and I suspect the invitations are going out soon.

A Mega-Bloc Without MAGA?

Imagine this: Europe, China, India, and Latin America — strange bedfellows, yes, but also ambitious ones — form a tariff-free mega-bloc. They start trading with one another in their own currencies, ditching the dollar and politely declining to buy overpriced American soybeans or semiconductor tantrums.

They pool resources, invest in infrastructure, and maybe even set up a BRICS-style lending bank that doesn’t lecture borrowers about “market discipline” while quietly bailing out its own banks. They look at the climate crisis and say, “You know what? Let’s stop waiting for the guy in the HUMMER with the flag decals to get onboard.”

Can it work?

Not without some turbulence, but MAGA has already put us on this bumpy ride. So, the answer is yes; if they build enough mutual trust, shared governance, and infrastructure, the world can absolutely bounce back without Big Brother America.

But… But… Military Dominance!

Cue the defense contractors shouting from their think tank-funded rooftops: “The U.S. still has the most powerful military in the world!”

True. But as any therapist — or post-Afghanistan veteran — will tell you, being powerful isn’t the same as being effective.

We haven’t “won” a war in the traditional sense since the Allies rolled into Berlin. And truculent bullying won’t trump strategic diplomacy. (See what I did there?)

China builds ports, India builds code, Latin America digs up the minerals powering the energy transition, and Europe does clean tech and social safety nets. And they are increasingly learning to do it together without checking with us first.

The Real U.S. Superpower: Consumption

Of course, we still consume like no one else. According to World Bank and IMF data, U.S. consumers account for nearly 30 percent of the world’s consumer spending despite being only four percent of the world’s population. We’re a Black Friday economy — impulse-driven, maxed-out, and always looking for the next Buy Now, Pay Later fix.

But here’s the twist: consumer dependence cuts both ways.

The way things are headed, instead of looking like America the Great, we’ll look like Russia the Terrible. American consumers may be unable to buy the U.S. out of the infernal mess inflicted by the current administration. If the rest of the world stops shipping us their cheap electronics, discount furniture, and fast fashion, we suffer first. But them? They pivot—to each other, to the 3 billion rising consumers across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Because here’s what no one on CNBC will tell you: economic growth in the Global South is no longer an aspiration — it’s a trendline. Slowly, messily, future markets are being built somewhere else, in currencies we don’t control and infrastructure we don’t finance.

So, What Happens to the U.S.?

Well, it depends.

Suppose we continue down the road of isolationist delusion, hoarding our nukes and shouting at Truth Social. In that case, we’ll end up in a self-imposed exile — big, armed, and increasingly irrelevant, like a retired supervillain in a Marvel movie no one asked for.

But if we wake up, join the party, and stop acting like the angry drunk on the front porch of the neighborhood, we might earn an invite back to the economic block party.

That means reinvesting in diplomacy, not dominance. Infrastructure, not idiocy. And most of all, trust — the thing we’ve spent the last decade squandering like our wealthy family’s inheritance.

The Future is Cooperative, Not Isolationist.

The U.S. can still play a meaningful role in the global economy — but only if we take our drunk uncles off the porch and behave like a decent global neighbor.

Because right now, we may still be loud and fat, but the world won’t wait for us to get sober.