The 9/11 Commission warned that Al Qaeda could... scheme to wield weapons of unprecedented destructive power in the largest cities of the United States. Future attacks could impose enormous costs on the entire economy. Having used up the surplus that the country enjoyed as part of the Cold War peace dividend, the U.S. government is in a weakened financial position to respond to another major terrorist attack, and its position will be damaged further by the large budget gaps and growing dependence on foreign capital projected for the future. As the historian Paul Kennedy wrote in his book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, too many decisions made in Washington today bring merely short-term advantage but long-term disadvantage. The absence of a sound, long-term financial strategy could bring about a deterioration that, in his words, leads to the downward spiral of slower growth, heavier taxes, deepening domestic splits over spending priorities and a weakening capacity to bear the burdens of defense.