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<p>I'm pretty sure the U.S. reign as a superpower is a tiny fraction compared to how long Rome was, but I'm not positive.<<</p>
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<p>You are correct. Rome was the major power in its part of the world from about 200 BC up to about AD 400 --> about 600 years. The US has been a major power only since the end of World War I --about 85 years. So if, like Rome, the US lasted as a super power say another 500 years or so, that would be okay. I could live with that.</p>
<p>THe EU cannot be considered to be one unit. There is simply too much difference between the European nations. They will be split on many many issues.</p>
<p>The U.S. will crap out soon, just look at how ****ty its people are. Fattest, dumbest, laziest people on Earth = AMericans.</p>
<p>Coureur, necessity is the mother of all inventions. Europe already realizes that in order to be the dominant player in the World, which it insists one being, is must unify. 20 years ago, the concept of a single currency or free movement of labor was unfathomable to most Europeans. Today, it is perfectly acceptable. A unified constitution and central legislative body is unacceptable today...but somehow, Europe will find a way to make it a reality and make it function. It won't happen until it is needed, but once there, Europeans will embrace it. I'd say given my limited knowledge of Europe, that time is not yet upon us. It will probably start gathering serious momentum in about 20-25 years...once all of Europe is under one roof. Of course, that is not to say that national distinctiveness will deteriorate, but when it coems to general issues that affect the collective, there will be a mechanism to handle such eventualities.</p>
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I believe the European Union is certainly taking that direction now as it is the largest economic unit in the world (a/b $13 trillion GDP compared to US GDP of $12 trillion)
<p>Unions like the EU are what will take the lead sooner or later. The Union is all about Money, that's why it's so successful.
But a union is only as strong as the countries within it. Take the African Union for example. It's a union, but all it's members are 3rd world, poverty stricken countries.
Unions that are not all about money never last. Like the USSR for example.</p>
<p>Like the people pointed out, the Lady Entropy (or whatever you would like to call the effect) will reduce the United States to insignificance. How long? No one knows. A few years, decades, centuries or maybe even millenniums. One thing's for sure, it will fall in the future.</p>
<p>And the point about the Chinese people living without telephones or roads is moot. They don't need to cater to everyone, the United State certainly doesn't. It all lies within the economy and the military and frankly, a few villages without phones and roads are an insignificant factor.</p>
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<p>The U.S. will crap out soon, just look at how ****ty its people are. Fattest, dumbest, laziest people on Earth = AMericans.<<</p>
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<p>The science Nobel prizes were given out over the past week, and scientists from a single country swept them all. </p>
<p>subjecttochange - would you care to tell us which country that was?</p>
<p>China may overtake the US in terms of GDP ajusted for PPP, but in terms of actual GDP, China is at least 3 decades away from overtaking the US. In terms of Economics, only the EU can match the US. In terms of military, the US is heads and shoulders over the rest, although 4 or 5 countries (China, England, France, Israel and Russia) have the missile technoligy and nuclear capabability to thwart any offensive. I don't see the US losing its "superpower" status anytime soon. At the same time, I think the EU and eventually, China, will also become superpowers in the next 10-15 years.</p>
<p>Um, a lot of the winners have not even been announced yet, and I am pretty sure those people might have American nationality, they are most likely European and Asian immigrants, and they are likely to be Jewish, not white American.</p>
<p>^^Wrong again. The winners of all the <em>science</em> Nobels for 2006 have been announced. Those three prizes (Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry) were shared by five Americans. No immigrants among them. All five were born, raised, and educated right here in the US:</p>
<p>The winners:</p>
<p>Scientist - Undergrad/Grad School/ Current Institution</p>
<p>Craig Mello - Brown/Harvard/UMass
Andrew Fire - UC Berkeley/MIT/Stanford
John Mather - Swarthmore/UC Berkeley/NASA
George Smoot - MIT/MIT/UC Berkeley & Lawrence Labs
Roger Kornberg - Harvard/Stanford/Stanford</p>
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<p>China may overtake the US in terms of GDP ajusted for PPP, but in terms of actual GDP, China is at least 3 decades away from overtaking the US. <<</p>
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<p>Technical measurements such as GDP are fine, but don't tell the real story on the street. Until you see thousands of Americans trying to immigrate to China instead of the other way around and thousands of American students clamoring to get into Chinese universities instead of the other way around, I don't think the super power tables will have really turned.</p>
<p>"Technical measurements such as GDP are fine, but don't tell the real story on the street. Until you see thousands of Americans trying to immigrate to China instead of the other way around and thousands of American students clamoring to get into Chinese universities instead of the other way around, I don't think the super power tables will have really turned."</p>
<p>So? New immigrants in America also tend to gather in China town, or Little Italy or whatever. </p>
<p>You are saying that Americans move abroad but don't try to assimilate, because they want to maintain their "Americanness"? That's preposterous, because I live in America, and I want nothing to do with mainstream American politics or pop American culture.</p>
<p>I mean that American culture and conveniences are everywhere, and going abroad for an American is by no means forsaking America (though it can be for some people).</p>