How about as an economic power, though? If someone could overtake the US economically, these silly wars would be much harder for her to afford, and they would eventually have to either get international support (which they likely wouldn't) or stop. Seems that the EU could have the ability to provide as much economic threat to the US as the USSR posed a military threat. I'm not much of a politician, though, so I could be way off an never know it if nobody told me.