What Really Makes America Great

Julie Roginsky

There’s a trope that our adversaries — Russia and China chief among them — repeat with ritualistic precision: that America is a fading power, an empire in decline, a country whose alliances are fraying and whose partners no longer trust us. It’s a projection, of course, born out of their own insecurities. But it also reveals something essential about what truly distinguishes the United States from those authoritarian regimes.

America’s strength comes not from coercion, but from consent.

Our alliances are not held together at the point of a gun. They are not enforced through threats, ultimatums, or the iron grip of a dictator who fears what happens the minute he loosens his hold. Our alliances are entered into freely because other nations see something in the American-led order that is better, safer, and more prosperous than the alternatives offered by Moscow or Beijing.

Why did Western Europe align with us after World War II? Because the United States rescued a continent in ruins and offered a framework of democracy, security, and economic recovery. Why did Japan and South Korea choose Washington over their authoritarian neighbors? Because we extended partnership rather than domination — an offer to build something stable and free together. Why does NATO endure, nearly eighty years later, despite constant predictions of its demise? Because every nation in that alliance chooses to be there. No one is conscripted. No one is occupied. No one is forced.

https://saltypolitics.substack.com/p/what-really-makes-america-great