Recent signs of America’s weakening global economic, cultural, and military dominance notwithstanding, the country continues to play a superpower-sized role in shaping the international narrative, with oversized consequences for national debates. Be it Black Lives Matter, vaccine hesitancy, stock-market fads, or economic regulation what matters in the US matters not only ‘from California to the New York island’ as Woody Guthrie sang, but also from Limpopo to the Prince Edward Islands.