Who pays to police the global commons?

In this interpretation, American commerce continued to benefit from British shipping, ports, banking connections, and naval protection. Maintaining those services imposed costs on Britain while giving it influence over maritime trade. The United States had not yet assumed the same ocean-policing role. Dependence on another power's maritime system therefore mattered alongside the balance of financial debts. Shared Anglo-American interests and the ability to negotiate disagreements helped make that arrangement workable in the 1920s.