(27.1.) Last year also shed light on a very basic theory of international politics – that of the balance of power. The U.S. military budget almost equals that of the next ten countries combined and Washington has numerous allies. Even more peculiar, the biggest economies in the world (excluding China) are not only uninterested in balancing themselves against American power, they in fact seem more interested in entrenching of U.S power. This does not bode well for Kenneth Waltz’s balance-of-power theory.