The superpower takes a breather

Strutting around the world like a colossus doesn’t appeal to anything in the American soul. We do it because somebody has to, because we can, and because most of us sense instinctively that we’ll wake up in a different world if Russia and China take over the job.

France stepped up in Mali for a similar reason. Because somebody had to, because Americans didn’t feel like it, and because the French could.

Washington was relieved. Americans don’t worry about waking up in a different and darker world if France calls a few shots internationally. The French share American values, more or less—unlike the Chinese and Russians. So thank goodness France was there to relieve us.