The United States has a lot of power in the world for several reasons. The U.S. has a $15 trillion economy and approximately a quarter of the global Gross Domestic Product. The U.S. also has a defense budget of $711 billion. This is about 43% of military spending in the world. The U.S. has a powerful military that it can send out to protect countries or locations that are considered important to U.S. foreign policy. 