America’s 250th birthday has naturally prompted reflection on what remains the world’s most consequential republic. Such anniversaries invite celebration, but they also encourage honest stocktaking. The question is not whether the United States remains a great power; it plainly does. The more relevant question, as the fireworks fade, is whether it still stands as far above every other nation as it once did. Increasingly, the answer is no. This distinction is crucial because absolute strength and relative dominance are not the same. By almost every meaningful measure, the United States remains pre-eminent.

It is home to the world’s largest economy in nominal terms, the dollar remains the backbone of the international financial system, its universities continue to attract the brightest minds, and its companies dominate frontier technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to biotechnology. No country can yet match its combination of military reach, financial influence, innovation and alliances. What has changed is the distribution of power around it. China has emerged as a technological and manufacturing powerhouse. India is steadily expanding its economic and........

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