Oh c'mon, you guys sound like everything will fly out of control without the USA. I agree there will be a big hole in the global economy due to US consumer market and some things may get stymied in litigation if US banks are involved, but I doubt a brawl among nations will erupt. Our 30,000 troops is not stopping N. Korea from invading S.Korea. More like the N.Koreans have wieghed the capabilities of ROK and feel they can not win decisively. China on Taiwan, in order to mount a successfull amphibious assault you need overwhelming force and numbers. China probably does not want to concentrate all it's forces and be left naked against Russian, Indian, and seperatist forces. More likely as the USA is out of the picture the Taiwanese simply roll over like the Swiss. Overall I doubt the world is just itching for a fight for no reason and the only thing holding them back is the USA. Even Isreal would be fine for awhile since they have current superiority of weapons and military. KFC, McDonalds, Coca Cola would all continue as operations are worldwide. Not much would be lost except maybe Harley-Davidson motorcycles and John Deere tractors. If anything it would cause a disruption in world oil supply as there would be a glut on the market without US consumption. Could have bad effects of lowering price of oil to the point it is no longer cost effective to refine or drill for it, which would then have a knockon effect with chemicals and plastics and excess shipping capacity. But even that scenario could be overcome in time due to estimated increases in demand from China and India.

 

I'm not a cheerleader of this but when our leaders decided offshore our heavy industries we became less relevant. We have effectively regulated ourselves into obscurity. The only thing that makes the USA a relavant power is it's military might , but that can not be sustained if the middle class is decimated.