All politics, the adage goes, are local. This is true enough, so far as it goes. But local politics are not immune to the tides of the wider world. Especially not in an age of intense globalisation and an enduring American hegemony.
The USA might not be quite the hyperpower some commentators predicted after the collapse of the Soviet Union but it still very much dominates global politics. Its traditional Cold War enemies, Russia and China, might be close to it in military strength, but they simply do not have the ability to project that strength overseas. China especially, because so much of its military power is dedicated to overseeing its own citizens.
