It's going to be a critical one too. Not that any really haven't been. International-Relations-wise the US is positioned to retain her monopolar status and the

It's going to be a critical one too. Not that any really haven't been. International-Relations-wise the US is positioned to retain her monopolar status and then cement it for the century by 2030. The two greatest competitors to her rule were Russia and China. All other powers are strong allies of the US and have no reason to change that. As we've seen, McCain's quip turned out to be true, the bear is nothing but a mafia in a run-down gas-station. The only other real competitor is China, and without Taiwan's fabs, China can't compete this century. Whole new fields of industry must be created for the dragon to take a shot for a bipolar world. That the US managed to convince Taiwan to lessen it's grip on that security guarantee (with the Texas fabs okayed recently) shows how much Taiwan thinks the US can win any conflict with the mainland. They aren't scared in the least. Russia's ongoing disaster only strengthens that feeling, as any invasion, already an operation on never heard of scale, would involve the actual US military. That Russia somehow allows NATO to fight openly against her with the airgap of a Ukrainian finger on the trigger shows how outmatched the bear is. It's basically a weapons test for NATO at this point, much to Ukraine's detriment. China can only guess at how poorly the invasion would go and how bungled it would be. Combined with crushing blockades and sanctions, and she knows any move would kill her economy for decades. Their clock is not ticking, it ran out. The only question is if Beijing knows it. So yes, I think it is good to be in the US or allied with her.