China is in the headlines now, everyday. The world is beginning to realize the fundamental shift in the powers that influence our world. For the past fifty years, it has been the United States who has called the shots in the world scene, bullying other countries and getting what it wants. That is no longer the case anymore. With the war in Iraq in one hand showing a great example of both international and domestic dissent on American imperialism and in the other hand, a struggling economy artifically bolstered by low interest rates and high consumer spending, we can see that America, while still by far the most powerful country in the world in all respects, is beginning to show signs of aging.

I agree with Brian's comment on my earlier post that it is likely that China will become a world superpower in the next 25 to 35 years. The real question is: how long will America remain a superpower?

If we were to produce a list of the most prominent superpowers in the history of the world, most historians would bring up (in no particular order):

1. The Mongol Empire (1206-1368), largest contiguous empire in world history. Founded by Ghenghis Khan, it spanned from southeast Asia to eastern Europe. The Mongol Empire was the first of its kind to actually rule the world bureaucratically and autonomously by allowing conquered nations to maintain their own culture, government, and religion at the expense of paying annual fees to the Mongol government thousands of miles away.
2. The British Empire and Commonwealth (1485-1921), world's first global power and history's largest empire; by 1921, it held sway over a population of 400-500 million people, or ~25% of the world's population and covered 14.1 million square miles, or ~24% of the world's total land area.
3. The Spanish Empire (1402-1603), At its largest reach, roughly 1740-1790 Spain controlled about half of South America, more than a third of North America, and had significant holdings in the Pacific basin. It is arguably so that the Spanish Empire has had the greatest impact on the American continent, basically fueling the development of south-western North America, Central America, and South America.

How would historians a hundred years from now look back upon America? Were we really the country of free-market prosperities and civil liberties? Or an imperialist nation powered by special-interests covered by a veil of democracy? Perhaps a synergy of both?