In an ideal world, where there are only good states, power would be largely irrelevant.
I believe that the existing power structures in Europe and Northeast Asia are not sustainable through 2020.
Simply put, the most powerful state is the one that prevails in a dispute.
States have two kinds of power: latent power and military power.
Bandwagoning is a strategy for the weak.
The German air offensives against British cities in World Wars I and II not only failed to coerce the United Kingdom to surrender, but Germany also lost both wars.