The Return of Great Power Rivalry: Democracy Versus Autocracy from the Ancient World to the U.S. and China - Paperbackby Matthew Kroenig (Author) This book provides an innovative way of thinking about power in international politics and provides an optimistic assessment about the future of American global leadership. The United States of America has been the most powerful country in the world for over seventy years, but recently the U. S. National Security Strategy declared that the return of great power competition with Russia and China is the greatest threat to U.