I think the US' hard power is, unlike many other Empires in past eras, just as insubstantial as its soft power.
Or, rather: I think the *idea* of US hard power is far more effective as a tool than the hard power, itself.
I mean, all those wars we lost? In countries that were *very* weak and *extremely* unprepared for existential military conflict, in large part because they were, until right up until we invaded, *our creations*.
In this way, US soft power was...
