Good to hear your perspective as a US citizen. Here's mine as a citizen of a nation militarily and monetarily subservient to the US, and before that Britain, New Zealand. Since WW2 the US took over from the British empire in a largely gentlemanly transition- the Brits kept their offshore banking tax havens financial network and a still significant military but definitely came to be secondary and support to the US empire.

USSRs defeat in Afghanistan precipitated the collapse of the USSR which had always had a significantly smaller economy than the west and without the ability to quickly monetise the vast oil and gas reserves in Khazakstan/central asia, was no longer viable. After that it seems like USA was exceptional and would rule uncontested. Not to be- China rose fueled by liberalisation and free trade and a politburo mostly composed of engineers who had discovered how to reverse engineer the wests technology and imperialism. Today USA is mired in the compromise and exhausting complexity of power- it carries an unsustainable level of debt - while China enjoys large and growing trade surpluses with most nations on earth. China has won the trade war- and dominance in trade requires a nation to secure resources and trade routes- Belt and Road. Today China sponsors Russia and Iran- buying their energy exports and facilitating payment via alternative mechanisms to SWIFT/USD. China is challenging the west/USA. It must if it wishes to continue to grow. This contest seems unlikely to be as gentlemanly as the transition from British to US global hegemony. China is a very different culture to the west. Perhaps a bipolar or multi-polar world can develop without too much bloodshed if the US decides to retreat into a regional hegemony and leaves its global power to others to fight over. But whatever happens there is going to be change and casualties. I can understand Americans wishing to step back from global hegemony but at the same time, living in New Zealand where we are both closely aligned with western values and military and banking structures and also now highly dependent upon the Chinese economy, it is a future of uncertainty and insecurity. For five centuries the west has dominated the globe- overwhelming all other nations and cultures- seizing territory and resources and enjoying relative wealth and privilege- this may be coming to an end. What a world where China is equal to or superior in power to the US might be like is difficult to imagine, especially for those who have benefited from western imperialism. But it is increasingly a realistic prospect, and whatever else Trump is doing, he is forcing us to see this, and deal with it.`