well, Britain has adjusted fairly well to its loss of superpower status.

in a globalized economy with so much interdependence going on there really is no need for territorial expansion when countries can become dominant players economically. That is what the neocons fail to understand, by trying to maintain Americas military superpower status they are losing the middle class, the productive base of their economy. Ironically, they are trying to attain for America something it already has in international economic prestige. It still is the worlds biggest economy, and the dollar is the international currency of choice.
(However it wasnt too long ago when the Pound sterling was the international currency). ANd the US economy is declining, not only is production being outsourced, so is innovation, lately the new trend is to have the product developed in Asia and slap on the company brand and use the marketing power of companies like Walmart to sell the product. So it doesnt help if your kid studies to be an engineer if the innovation is outsourced as well.

When I was in Europe last May, all the news coverage was on the entry of 10 more countries into the EU making it an economic union of nearly 500 million people. On returning to Canada, NOrth American news barely breached this topic.

in the end economics trumps all,