”Basically we’ve ruined American air power.”

Den svenska försvarsdebatten kan betraktas i en internationell kontext. BBC-programmet The Edge ägnade nyligen 40 minuter åt en dyster genomlysning inte bara av de europeiska NATO-ländernas starkt försvagade militära kapacitet utan också åt USAs alltmer urholkade försvarskraft.

As a result of its procurement practices, the Pentagon now has fighters that average 24 years and bombers that are 38 years old.

Last year it acquired fewer new planes than in any year since 1915 and was outstripped for the first time in fighter deliveries by Russia.

The US retains very large forces, of course, and it will only be during the next decade that the consequences of the growing obsolescence of much of its equipment makes themselves felt – most probably by a significant decline in the numbers of many of its major weapon systems. (—)

With the US increasingly focused on China and pressure for further cuts, the idea that America should keep shouldering 70 or 75% of Nato’s spending burden is ”unsustainable”, according to Douglas Lute, US ambassador to the Western alliance.

So while the Pentagon has sent over small numbers of soldiers and jets following the Ukraine crisis, it is leaving the question of how best to respond to the Kremlin’s growing assertiveness, largely to the Europeans themselves.

Sammanfattningsvis: the wider truth that the economic and military power of Western nations is declining, while that of emerging powers and even some non-state groups, grows. That is a long-term trend, cutting across the decades, just as it does the narrow issue of who happens to be in the White House or No 10 at a particular moment.

Vilka slutsatser man ska dra av detta kan man fundera över, men efter decennierna efter Sovjets sönderfall tycks vi idag inte längre leva i en unipolär värld där USA (NATO) dominerar. Vi lever förmodligen nu och framöver utrikes- och säkerhetspolitiskt i en multipolär värld. Jag är inte säker på att en feministisk utrikes- och säkerhetspolitik är det slutliga svaret på de utmaningar svenska regeringar oavsett politisk färg  ställs inför.