An African diplomat once told a US journalist, "when China comes to visit us, we get a port or a railway; when the US comes to visit us, we get a lecture".
That story may be apocryphal, but it rings true. You could also say something similar about Russia.
The fact is, in the post-war era, the Western Europe democracies were lavishly funded by the USA. The Marshall Plan was a way to keep the Commies out.
"The United States feared that the poverty, unemployment, and dislocation of the post-World War II period were reinforcing the appeal of communist parties to voters in western Europe. On June 5, 1947, in an address at Harvard University, Secretary of State George C. Marshall advanced the idea of a European self-help program to be financed by the United States".
The US has continued to subsidise its European vassal states, not least by providing for its defense. I lived in Germany in the 1980's at the height of the American occupation., with 340,000 active duty military - and their families - living in Germany and pumping millions of dollars into the German economy. Even after the draw-down, however, Germany and the other EU countries continued to benefit by the US commitment to provide for their defense. Not having to spend money on defense meant they could invest more heavily in infrastructure and generous social programs like universal health care and free university education - benefits that have been denied to Americans in order to fund the US defense "umbrella".
The fact is, the world is changing, and Russia and China are leading the formation of a multipolar world order based on trade and economic cooperation, rather that US hegemonic militarism.
The US maintains around 1000 foreign military bases around the world. How many does Russia have? How many does China have?
If you think that being a US colony is fun, ask the people of Central and Latin America, or the island nations in the Pacific, where the US military is destroying the environment and the lives of the people (this even includes Hawaii, BTW).
