It is actually weakened, and there is no question that the U.S. maintains a structural deficit, where its military expenditures are largely contributing to that. One means for the United States to extricate itself and get itself out of its current financial dilemma is to take a serious look at its military expenditures.
But I am still not overly concerned, because even if we saw a 25% reduction in overall military capability of the United States, it would still be the predominant military power in the world. We need to really bear in mind that even if the U.S. goes from eleven carrier battle groups down to six, that is still a massive world power. So by any measure and by any projection, the U.S. will still maintain a sizeable military capability and will still be the largest military power in the world.
What it does say, however, is that it is time for allies such as Canada and Great Britain to look seriously at how they can work with the United States through this transition. This is exactly the type of conversation I hope we're going to have, because necessarily, as the United States has already said in its own defence strategy, it knows it needs to reduce its capability. If we can do our part, let's say in the Arctic or elsewhere, to backfill what the U.S. won't do, that might be an opportunity we should look at.