Being number one means paying for global responsibility

Why might the status of being the top world power be more attractive than the reality?

He means that global primacy brings expensive responsibilities: fixing crises, providing security, intervening in disputes, and paying bills that a number-two power can avoid.

This 2020 assessment argues that a state cannot be number one only when the status is enjoyable. It must be prepared to intervene in crises, provide security to allies, manage conflicts that are not directly profitable, and spend heavily on worldwide commitments. China is presented as seeking the status of primacy while finding its responsibilities less attractive. The comparison is with Britain after the Second World War, when the United States assumed many of the costs of global leadership.