Naval forces continue to be very important. But the US is so much more powerful than any other nation that there really is no comparison. Other countries have not sought to match our Navy because:

1. It is far too expensive for most countries

2. For the most part, other countries trust us not to attack them with Naval forces

That is one of the reasons that so many countries were angry with us over our attack on Iraq.

During the cold war, the Soviets had a credible Naval force, especially nuclear submarines. But they had very little surface capability.