WASHINGTON — With China accelerating its military modernization, Russia continuing its slow-drip incursion into Ukraine, and an expanding section of the Middle East devolving into chaos, it has once again become fashionable to argue that the United States is in decline. Strangely, Americans are often far quicker to accept this diagnosis than their counterparts abroad.

Dear Mr./Ms. President:

Each of your predecessors has had to confront crises, at home and abroad, and, especially in the last third of our nation’s history, each has had to respond to events and trends abroad that could affect vital interests.  You will doubtless have to do so as well.

Any commentary with a title such as this one should begin with a disclaimer: distilling a country of 1.34 billion people down to a construct called "China" is presumptuous, verging on preposterous. Who best represents "the views of China?" Its government? Its dissidents? The individuals who may be critical of government policies, but choose to go about their daily business rather than investing the time and energy to express their criticisms?

The U.S. is in relative decline, not absolute decline. Indeed, its demographic outlook, its progress on major trade initiatives like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and its breakthroughs in fields like natural gas and big data — among other factors — suggest that it may be poised for a renaissance.

Read an excerpt in The Times of India from a new book on Lee Kuan Yew by Belfer Center Director Graham Allison and Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, with Belfer Center Associate Ali Wyne. The book is titled: Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World.