"The basic geopolitical strategy puzzle faced by the United States today is how to manage the relative decline of U.S. economic and military power, while maintaining U.S. leadership and influence to protect the country’s security and prosperity. After a long era of unquestioned global primacy, the United States needs to figure out how to continue to lead with fewer of the tools of hegemony than it once had at its disposal.

All-powerful hegemons don’t need especially sophisticated strategies. But today’s not-quite-so-dominant United States needs to become smarter about how it maintains and deploys global influence. ...

The escalating budget fight and looming shutdown in Washington is one such unforced error. It will produce no benefit for the country and diminish its power. For one, the budget fight—at this stage, a fight between the radical and mainstream wings of the Republican Party in Congress that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been helplessly unable to control—is a distraction that threatens to escalate in the weeks ahead.
....
McCarthy’s present woes are the latest chapter in a long-standing story of failure. The recurring inability of the U.S. Congress to reliably pass a federal budget is not only distracting, but also leads to inefficient spending: Instead of allocating spending strategically, stopgap measures merely extend existing misspending and fail to set urgent new budget priorities.
....
Moreover, the budget hijinks look childish: Is this how the world’s most powerful nation conducts itself? News media around the world are reporting on the fact that the entire U.S. government might be shut down because its leaders can’t handle a basic legislative process. "

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/25/us-congress-budget-shutdown-republicans-ukraine-zelensky-foreign-policy/