People talk about global 'influence' like its something magical, but if a country has economic power, politicians in smaller countries are going to take its side, and those people are going to rely on talking points it supplies. This is what America has, nothing else.
America's global influence works kind of like a sales organization. It has representatives all over the world, in both the public and private sector. They try to push whatever America is selling. The US media, think tanks, etc, supply the arguments or scripts they use.
The US has largely enjoyed a uncontested territory of influence since the fall of the USSR. America peddlers dominate global politics. But we already see the signs that this is changing, increasingly they're becoming more desperate and turning to more underhanded practices.
Cultural 'power' depends on this kind of influence, not vice versa. Hollywood and US brands dominate not because of their intrinsic qualities but because US dealmakers dominate. Influence will decline with relative economic power and cultural significance will decline with both.
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