To whom should we surrender?

Overextension is the graveyard of superpowers. Throughout history empires and powerful nations have crumbled because they pushed too much of their strength abroad, bled themselves dry in faraway conflicts with no bearing on their interests, bit off more than they could chew. Caution in overseas engagement, and refraining from action when one has no pressing need to act, are ways for great powers to survive, not the cause of their demise. Certainly the US has made its share of errors, more often in overaction than in underaction, but it's not too late to correct the course and adopt a posture more consistent with real-world capacities and interests.