I don't mind the idea of Pax Americana at all. I don't think it could be done with warships and bombers, and I don't think many Americans would want that anyway.

But with capitalism and democracy, that's a different story. Prosperity and freedom is a difficult tagteam to overcome.

Education, that's the key, imo. Capitalism and democracy are both often poorly understood even by people who've grown up immersed in them. For those who haven't, I understand the systems--especially capitalism--often leave them totally mystified.

And some real questions remain...will the "rest of the world" be able to make the changes they'd need to make for democracy and capitalism to work (for instance, from Tom's outstanding link of a few days ago, clear titles of ownership)?

And if a large chunk of the world's population start to attain the American standard of living, can the resources of this planet support so many at that level?

That last question might be better posed on the Space board...