The USA has everything it needs to back up that claim to being a superpower among which we can count: - being a top tier tech power - being a top tier culture

The USA has everything it needs to back up that claim to being a superpower among which we can count: - being a top tier tech power - being a top tier culture exporter - being the reserve currency for the world (the USA is THE monetary superpower) - having good relationships with other major powers which amplify it's own - having the best military force projection and having alliances which further magnify that force projection Like it or not, the USA has what it takes to back it up. And I agree, the USA has been and is behaving morally disastrous in several ways. One does not excuse the other. No ones military imperialism is excusable. But in addition to that, I am saying, the Russian leadership is braindead because they failed to accurately appraise their chances and continue to do so. They thought they could take Ukraine in a few weeks and when that proved wrong they did not recalibrate their expectations. At any time until the point they officially declared annexation, they could have declared mission accomplished and the internal propaganda machine would have done it's job. Now they are stuck, unable to make progress and unable to backtrack. Such stupidity is far more disastrous than the villainy of imperialism. This is Cipolla's 5'th law of stupidity and its corollary applied: "A stupid person is the most dangerous person in existence." and "A stupid person is thus more dangerous than a bandit.". Also, a relevant quote by the same author: "The ability to hurt of a stupid person depends on the […] position of power or authority he occupies in the society." China, compared to Russia, does in fact have some actual capability to support its ambitions. Will they be stupid in the future and overestimate themselves? So far they are somewhat cautious but we will see.