What are the potential social impacts of minimizing federal power in the United States and restoring the relative autonomy of the states as was originally formulated by the articles of confederation (pre-Constitution policy) and later attempted by the Confederate States of America? I don't think China or Russia would invade the United States if we had a weak federal government. Consider the Greek States, which consisted of warring independent city states of small size. Yet these states were united by a common language, culture and identity. They were able to hold back, and even in some cases, defeat, massive empires. We also have NATO, the UN and other cooperative networks for the purpose of military alliance against ideological foes. The United States could still act cohesively against a common outside threat. Those that support such decentralized power would also argue that an armed populace is the greatest deterrent to invasion by foreign military powers (although also can't be the only deterrent).