Cutting one's cloth to match one's means

The news this week that the USA was down-scaling its military reach so that it could fight one regional war and provide air support in another is a tacit abandoning of the 'two-power standard' a little over a century after Britain abandoned its own version.  Each standard may not be directly comparable - Washington's current military was designed to fight with full spectrum abilities in two regions, whereas London insisted that its navy was the same size as the next two strongest navies combined - but they illustrate domestic preoccupations that balk at the cost of such a large part of the government budget being hived off to fund a force that is overwhelmingly powerful.
Britain was placed at a disadvantage when it developed the Dreadnought as it made all its previous battleships obsolete, greatly straining the standard previously maintained, but it had no choice because a year later Imperial Germany had it own 'all big gun' ship.  Frantic attempts to keep ahead of the Germans were successful (except in the development of fatally compromised battlecruisers) but it explains why the UK so willingly signed up to the Washington Treaty of 1922 limiting capital ships.  World War One had exhausted the coffers and the two power standard died.
America also seeks to balance the books.  The Sequestration brought about by Congressional intransigence forced several parts of the navy to be mothballed.  But when the country spends as much as the next five bigger military budgets combined (a five-power standard?), it was seen as a luxury that couldn't be afforded in more pinched times.  Hence, if the USA fronts up against North Korea, say, it can only provide limited support, mostly air, against another 'rogue state'.  The USA's stand-offishness with Syria indicates though that Europe must take more responsibility (not exactly forthcoming) as it prepares to go toe-to-toe with China if need be, a regional conflict erupting over anything from a reckless Pyongyang, Taiwan or the Senkaku Islands.  It can still project its power anywhere in the world, but whatever the consequences of the Pacific Pivot, the USA has tacitly acknowledged it is just a superpower, instead of a 'hyperpower'.  Military unipolarity is at an end.