Pax Americana

Someone on the television during the Republican primaries referred to the fall of the American Empire. He denied very vigorously that any such thing was happening. But he didn’t deny that there was an American Empire. When would it have started? After World War 2 I suppose. Empires aren’t lasting like they did in the old days. The Roman Empire lasted a thousand years. The British about a quarter of that. The American? 50 years. Is this reflective of the pace of change? Perhaps the next empire will expire over one long hot summer.