The world of today appears for the most part to be American dominated. American movies are run in cinemas in the far corners of the globe, the music of Britney Spears can be heard playing in Japan, and everywhere you look people are striving to dress "western". Why then should America not strive to be a global hegemon if their influence on the world is so great? Yet, one needs to remember that there has not been a world hegemon since the Roman Empire. Rome proved to be a hegemon that stayed on top of the weaker states below it but was eventually ruined by a combination of inside decline from the volume of inescapable tasks to run a world empire and outside attack from those who didn't approve. As Kagan has written "[we cannot] forget the truism that all great powers must someday fall." (Maynes, The Perils...