this is why they call them intelligence agencies....

--A new study of the global future by American intelligence agencies [said] “although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States’ relative strength—even in the military realm—will decline and US leverage will become more constrained... By 2025, it predicted, “the US will find itself as one of a number of important actors on the world stage,” playing “a prominent role in global events” but not a decisive one as in the past. NYT A13