While the United States' military might has been irrefutable for nearly a century, that's not the only - or even primary way - the United States has influenced global relationships. It was the nation's soft power, or ability to influence political and economic trends through humanitarian efforts and without coercion, that kept the US forefront on the political stage. With the end of USAID - the US's primary source of soft power - the world is now in a vacuum and it's our political rivals who are more than willing to fill the void left by the growing US isolationism.