On this blog, I discuss important national issues, often pertaining to economic and fiscal matters.  Lately, I have been discussing why and how the U.S. is such a strong country.

Today, I discuss why the U.S, is still the strongest nation in the world, twenty-five years after 9/11.  We have not declined as was widely predicted then and now. (see here and here).

The U.S. has problems, to be sure, but our major autocratic adversaries, China, Russia, and Iran are in worse shape than we are.  Consider:

• The U.S. In 2001, the U.S. accounted for 48% of combined G7 GDP (in current U.S. dollars).  This year, the share is 59%.  Our military is by far the largest in the world.  We have a huge lead in AI development, which is now driving the world economy.  We are a very prosperous country with a steadily expanding middle class.

  

• China has been making rapid economic progress in recent years.  It’s economy surged from 13% of U.S. GDP in 2001 to 77% in 2021 but has since fallen back to 64% in 2026.  In 2025, China’s population fell by 3.4 million, the fourth consecutive year of contraction.  Thanks to its earlier (now ended) one-child per woman policy, the most plausible projections of China’s population in the year 2100, range from 525 million to 732 million, a decline of 48-63 percent.  “In short, China’s economic miracle is fading fast.”
• The Russian invasion of Ukraine, over four years ago, has gone very poorly for Russia.  The Russian economy is in decline and its refineries, ports, and defense industries are now under attack by Ukrainian missiles and drones.  Russian President Putin is basically trapped in an unwinnable war.
• Our main policy is to deny nuclear weapons to Iran.  In the current war, the U.S. naval blockade has prevented Iran from shipping any oil from the Persian Gulf since July.  Furthermore, the U.S. has been able to assist Gulf Arab states in moving their own crude oil through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.  Time is no longer on Iran’s side, as its economy is in rapid decline.

  

Conclusion.  The U.S. has big problems of its own (e.g. a rapidly growing and unsustainable national debt, severe political polarization, and currently too high inflation), but they are smaller than the huge problems of our main autocratic adversaries.  We have not declined as a result of the 9/11 attack 25 years ago.  Rather, we have only gotten stronger, and are easily outclassing our biggest competitor, China, as well as badly hurting Russia and Iran.

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