Are the Days of America as a Superpower Numbered?

The consequences of the financial upheaval of the past 18 months are that Europe is now richer than America. The accumulated wealth of America dropped 21.8% while Europe's fell by only 5.8% ("Europe is now richer than North America" Business Week, Sept. 16, 2009).

Since wealth is necessary for global power, is Europe in line for taking over as the biggest Superpower from the United States?

The euro, the currency used, is now valued at 1.5 times higher than the U.S. dollar and is used now by more people. With more than 500 million citizens, the European Union is the world's largest single market and by far the world's greatest trading power.

In fact at the last oil summit in Saudi Arabia last July, there were talks of making the price of a barrel of oil be in euros instead of dollars, because of the stability of the euro. A vote was taken and it was defeated by only 3 votes. If the buying power of oil is transferred to euro's it will destroy the U.S. economy as we do not have enough euro's coming into our financial system to offset our demand for oil.

Having now surpassed the United States in economic power, could the European Union soon replace America as the world's foremost political and military power?

Lessons to be learned.

There are very few people alive today in this generation that can remember when the British dominated as a world power. Before WWII that was the way things were. Just less than 70 years ago Britain dominated the world, most countries did all trading with Britain, all currency was calculated to the value of the British pound, Britain controlled most governments around the world.

What changed?

After fighting 2 world wars in just three decades Britain was broke! This wasn't immediately apparent as the British remained intact. The British government just could not get out from under the debt it had incurred and the pound ended up being devalued and the U.S. dollar took over as the strongest currency in the world.

Today in the United States.

Just as the British Empire lost its strong hold as a world Superpower due to debt over an overstretched military, so to the United States faces the same problems. Since 1990 we have been in Iraq twice, we have troops spread out in Afghanistan, and for that matter across the globe. We have had numerous bailouts, stimulus, cash for clunkers and other programs that are all on loans from other countries. We have a national debt of 50 trillion dollars.

Only a generation ago the United States was in such sound financial condition it was the world's largest lender. No longer! Due to its profligate spending, now it is the MOST indebted nation in history!

There is a great irony in all of this though, Britain established 13 colonies that later became the United States and took over from Britain as the Superpower. In the 1970's Washington policy makers did not want to deal with 16 individual European nations and encouraged them to cooperate and ban together. This fledgling project led to the formation of the European Union, who is now in position to take over from the United States as the next Superpower.