However much military hardware a superpower owns, decay of the will to use it is the same thing as a decay of effective power. After a time, it ceases to overawe.
不管超级大国拥有多少军事实力，缺乏使用军事实力的意愿和缺乏有效力量是一回事。只要有过一次先例，就失去了威慑力。