On your second point (Coalitions of the anti-American willing) - I do not worry about such a thing. Second tier countries may decide that they have an interest in banding together to fight against American hegemony, but any alliance they form will be toothless and fragile.
Their anti-Americanism aside, France's interests do not mirror Russia's, nor do Germany's goals coincide with Canada's. And so on.
Jealousy and envy are not bricks with which to build a lasting alliance. They'll unite on issues from time to time and cause us headaches and PR problems, but that's about the best they'll muster. Plus, we can always peel one of them off an issue with some sugar-coated trade deal or aid package. Their "bedrock principles" run only a couple of hundred million dollars deep.
And just for the record: this particular writer is also on the editorial board of the National Interest. There's more, but let the "assume-first" crowd do their own searching. He's no intellectual lightweight, nor is he left-leaning.