On the importance of culture and role conceptions in international structures see Alexander Wendt (1999, p. 251 ff).] This US self-definition as the leader of the world has been reaffirmed by the current administration (Rice, 2000b, pp. 45-62), with at least one major consequence (Kagan, 2001, pp. 7-16) : the US is a superpower whose foreign policy remains directed towards keeping secondary States