It is no secret that since the end of World War II, the United States has maintained its global hegemony and projected its power by forging and enhancing alliances across the world. Signals from the past week indicate there could be an important shift in the US club of allies.

Before the London-based Financial Times published an article, saying the US "no longer sees anything special in UK relations", the weeklong visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the US had grabbed much of media attention. While the United Kingdom is widely seen as the most reliable US ally in the world, Japan is no doubt the most important in the Asia-Pacific region. Yet after Abe's visit this may no longer sound 100 percent true.

While the British newspaper cited several laudable reasons, the UK's move to join the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank being one, for London's waning importance for Washington, the rest of the world saw the US-Japan alliance growing stronger through Abe's unprecedented visit.