I don't agree with you. To quickly cite another WikiPedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_f...
How many of those figures are of the US?
Not trying to start a pissing contest. Sorry.
How many of those figures are of the US?
Not trying to start a pissing contest. Sorry.
As it's difficult to compare richness through history I was focusing on relative power. Can someone challenge US now? yes: Russia, China, Europe. Some past empires didn't have any counterpart because they were too powerful for anyone.
Economically, china is still not into high income yet, while Russia is stuck in a natural resources trap with lots of corruption. Europe is quite fine though.