America Alone — And What Comes Next

By: Roozbeh Aliabadi, Ph.D.

I was sitting in a café in Bucharest, prepping for a panel on the digital divide. Across from me, a Romanian entrepreneur asked me if the United States still wants to lead the world. It wasn’t a rhetorical question. It was sincere. His business depends on global stability, and in that moment, I realized how few people — even among our friends — know where America stands anymore.

It’s a question I’ve heard more and more lately — from officials in Riyadh, educators in Nairobi, and even middle school students in Pittsburgh. Will the United States still be the keystone of the international order, or has it quietly decided to become something else?

I believe we already have.

Since the Cold War ended, people imagined two options for the U.S.: double down on global leadership or step back and make room for a multipolar world. But what we’ve done is something different. We’ve become a rogue superpower — unbound, transactional, unbothered. Not isolationist. Not interventionist. Just — out for ourselves.

And it didn’t start with Trump. He just took a match to something that had been drying out for decades: our patience, our purpose, and our postwar bargain.

The truth? This shift was always in the cards. And we’re living in the consequences now.

Power Without a Plan

Let’s be clear: America can afford to act this way. We’re not in decline. That’s a myth.

We have the biggest consumer market in the world. The dollar dominates every corner of the financial system. Our companies write the code that runs the modern economy — from semiconductors to AI. Militarily, we can strike anywhere, anytime, without permission or apology. From drones launched in Nevada to submarines parked deep under the Pacific, our reach is nearly unmatched.

I’ve worked with partners around the world — from the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia to kids in Medellín running AI projects in slums — and I see it everywhere: the gravity of American power is still real.

People may not like our politics, but they still bet on our capabilities.

That’s what makes this moment so dangerous.

Because we’re not a country losing its grip — we’re a country tired of holding on. We’re not being forced to retreat — we’re choosing to let go.

And that choice is reshaping the global order more than any enemy ever could.

From Architect to Operator to Outsider

I’ve spent the past several years helping build ReadyAI with an amazing team into a global bridge between kids and the future — using AI to spark creativity, curiosity, and hope. But you can’t teach global citizenship without confronting global politics. And what I see now is a growing mismatch between America’s values and its posture.

We (the United States) helped build a liberal order that lifted billions. But now, that same openness has become a liability. Our adversaries used it to grow stronger — not more democratic. They gained from access to our markets and institutions, then turned those gains against us.

Look at the facts. Other major powers have weaponized energy, looted banks, and launched wars on its neighbors. They built a surveillance empire, crushed freedoms, stole IP, and flooded markets with subsidized tech. They don’t just oppose the liberal order — they manipulate it while hollowing it out.

We integrated them into the system — and now the system is starting to break.

Meanwhile, many of the allies we once depended on now depend on us. Europe slashed defense budgets. Canada and Japan drifted into complacency. In crisis after crisis, whether it’s Houthi attacks in the Red Sea or Russian missiles in Ukraine, they look to Washington. But we’re starting to look away.

This isn’t the Cold War. It’s something murkier. Messier. Meaner.

The Demographic Time Bomb

Most Americans have no idea that one of our biggest advantages is hiding in plain sight: our people.

Our demographic engine still runs. By 2050, the U.S. will be one of the only great powers with a growing, prime-age workforce. Meanwhile, China, Russia, Germany, South Korea, and others will be shedding millions of workers and adding millions of retirees.

I’ve seen this up close. In Japan, where we’re planning a local summer AI Program event, schools are emptying as population is aging. In Eastern Europe, you can feel the weight of a graying population pulling society inward.

But here’s the twist: we’re not using that advantage to lead the world. We’re using it to wall ourselves off.

Automation, reshoring, and AI are reducing our dependence on foreign labor. New tech is letting us strike from a distance, run supply chains from home, and design an economy that’s more fortress than freeway.

The result? America doesn’t need the world the way it used to. And the world is feeling that chill.

The Global South and the Global Storm

While the Global North ages, the Global South is exploding.

Africa will add over a billion people by 2050 — most of them young, ambitious, and living in fragile states. Many won’t find jobs. Some won’t find governments that work. And when they migrate — out of desperation or aspiration — their movement will shake political systems from Europe to the U.S.

I remember a 14-year-old refugee I met in Jordan. He had dreams of becoming an engineer. But his school didn’t have Internet — or textbooks. He taught himself Python from an old phone. He’s part of a generation that’s coming of age during climate shocks, political chaos, and rapid digital change. What happens when millions like him move? What happens when we turn away?

Already, you can see the backlash building in U.S. politics. The instinct is to shut the gates, turn inward, and act like these problems are someone else’s responsibility.

But you can’t firewall the 21st century.

So here we are.

A rogue superpower with the means to act unilaterally — and the motive. But the real question is what kind of rogue we’re going to be.

Will we become erratic and impulsive — slapping tariffs on friends, cozying up to autocrats, and walking away from hard problems? Or can we find a way to act independently without being indifferent?

Can we shape a new kind of leadership — one that focuses on resilience, reciprocity, and results?

I think we can. But we need to be honest about the world we’re in.

The liberal international order isn’t coming back in its old form. The postwar playbook is outdated. But that doesn’t mean the core principles — freedom, dignity, cooperation — have to die with it.

We just need a new architecture.

Toward a “Free World That Works”

Start with what we have.

North America already has the bones of a super-alliance: energy, manufacturing, population, tech. Imagine deepening integration with Canada and Mexico — not just on trade, but on education, talent mobility, infrastructure. That could be our new engine of strategic autonomy.

Globally, we need a redefinition of alliance. Not everyone gets in the tent. But those who do — Taiwan, Ukraine, Poland, South Korea, Australia — should be part of a tight network: economically integrated, technologically aligned, and militarily interoperable.

Defense isn’t just tanks and jets anymore. It’s semiconductors, satellites, data cables, drone swarms. It’s narrative warfare. And it’s values. We need to re-arm not just our militaries but our institutions, our trust in each other, and our belief in the long game.

We don’t need a liberal empire. We need a free world that works. For real people. In real time.

The Opportunity in the Fire

If there’s one thing America gets right in the long run, it’s reinvention.

Every chapter of national renewal came from crisis. The Civil War built our railways. The Cold War built our universities and highways. The post-9/11 years, for all their flaws, jumpstarted biotech and energy revolutions. Now, this emerging rivalry — with China, with Russia, with entropy itself — can be the next crucible.

We could rebuild our industrial base. Modernize our education system. Attract global talent. Double down on frontier tech. And restore public trust not through slogans but through results.

I think of kids in Kenya who built an AI app to detect fake news or my little cousin, barely two years old, who’s already asking questions about intelligent robots. We owe them something more than chaos.

We owe them a country that knows who it is — and what it stands for.

The question isn’t whether America will go it alone. It’s whether we can lead again — not by default, but by design.

Because if we get this right, we won’t just build a stronger America. We’ll help build a world worth living in — for those who choose to stand with us.

Let’s start there.

This article was written by Rooz Aliabadi, Ph.D. (rooz@readyai.org). Rooz is the CEO (Chief Troublemaker) at ReadyAI.org. He is also the Director of Compassion in AI at Stanford University (CCARE).

To learn more about ReadyAI, visit www.readyai.org or email us at info@readyai.org.