Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Brokers Release of U.S. Hikers from Iran

[T]he crisis of soft power risks accelerating the decline of [U.S.] power in the world, activating and speeding up centrifugal dynamics that might otherwise have taken years to fully manifest.

The prevailing view among the international community is that while American hegemony still exists, it is now in a state of relative decline.

When political legitimacy becomes contingent on recognition by a superpower, populations lose their right to self-determination and democracy becomes a selective tool.

The danger is not merely hypocrisy, but normalization, a world in which coercion replaces cooperation and sovereignty becomes conditional.