Rath on 10 September 2011
America is still certainly the sole superpower but I would say it has lost some of its lead recently. Its worst losses have been in soft-power, certain events such as the war in Iraq (and the bad intelligence leading up to it) and the tortutre in Gitmo have lead to a loss of American prestige and a loss of goodwill.
Economically the 2009 crisis and the recent bickering over the debt ceiling and soaring deficit have also dented Americas status as the sole economic super power, though it is still by far and away the worlds largest economy.
