On the heels of Robert Kagan’s response to John Mearsheimer that Scott mentioned, Zalmay Khalilzad has joined in the fun with a reply of his own to “Imperial By Design”:

Shifting to an offshore-balancer role now is premature. Adopting such a strategy would accelerate the rise of multipolarity and increase the risk of conflict among major powers. Pursuing a global-leadership strategy remains the best option, albeit in a way that incorporates lessons of the past two decades. Looking ahead, future administrations should adjust specific policies to deal with changing domestic and global circumstances—the rise of China and threats resulting from globalization such as cyber attacks for example—while maintaining a grand strategy of American global leadership.