In 1900 there were 77 countries in the world. Today there are 195.
In that time the worlds population has grown from 1.6bn to 7.9bn
A question was posed on my new favorite podcast, when did the Roman empire end; spoiler alert- it depends when you mean end. Technically in the 5th century AD the western piece fell, but it struggled on in the east for several more centuries. Yet we still speak “latin” today and have a proclivity for straight roads.
So militarily 476 maybe, influentially….never.
What on earth is your point?
My point is this. If you approached a Roman in Constantinople in 550 AD they’d tell you the empire was fine.
If you asked an American today, what would they say? ( ok, not an empire….)
My point being moments in time feel jarring, but when judged over 100’s of years they are more fluid.
Did the American empire end in 2001? 2022? Or have we yet to see it?
I have no idea. All i can tell you is that the direction of travel is (currently) that way, and its effects will be wide ranging.
