I get that collapse is a slow ongoing process but when the history books are written, what do you think will be considered the US' own Battle of Ravenna? What will occur that historians can point to it and say, "this was the effective end of the American empire." ?
IMO, if the US fails to reverse the Solomon Islands/China deal, then it will formally solidify China as a rival geopolitical power and increase global south buy-in to the Belt and Road Initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Ukraine is a failure in hard power, but losing the Solomon Islands would be a loss in Soft Power, the idea of America as World Police, and an increased regionalization of international cooperation as it become more expensive to travel and move goods over long distances.