US balance of power policy in the 21st-century should defend justice and recognize the existence of the nation-state with reference to moral content. The policy should not disregard the fact that the nation-state, whose main purpose is to protect the well-being of its citizens, has persisted in an age of globalization. In seeking balance of power among nations, the US must prove that even while it must play a major military role, it has no ambition to exert its hegemony.