Neither the US nor the world is likely to be a safer or more prosperous place with a Jacksonian nation. If certain Cassandra scenarios start to play out, whether in the economic or security arenas, a Jacksonian US will not handle with equanimity the slings and arrows of the external world. It will be puzzled by and hostile to its (quite natural) decline in (relative) power. It will arouse even greater suspicion in the outside world than it has already. We need to keep our internal balance to face the potential unpleasantnesses in the decade to come.A Jacksonian nation will merely exacerbate the self-defeating behavior of an empire starting to reel from having already over-reached the bounds of its strategic strengths. We're not in an irreparable situation by a long shot. "Decline" isn't necessarily a bad thing, since unfettered hegemony isn't good for either the international system nor for the US itself. Nor do I believe that America has become the "dispenable nation." But a Jacksonian nation dramaticaly limits our margin for error iin navigating the coming perils. It also calls for a great deal more wisdom in our leaders than I see evidenced on either side today.