It seems as if the world is undergoing a transformation similar on scale to that which started with metallurgy allowing the harnessing of steam and electricity, followed by the development of the international banking systems and intercontinental travel on a grand scale.

Computational power seems analogous to steam, and the ways to harness this now cheap commodity are just beginning to really open up. "Isolationism" isn't viable any more and there are going to be massive adjustments as the world gets used to having both rivalries and interdependence with the same entities.

I believe the EU is an outgrowth of these pressures, which penalize fiefdoms and encourage larger cooperative systems. I think the UN and Kyoto have been early efforts to acknowledge interdependence and cooperation. Those efforts have shown mixed results, with the selfishness of some nations sabotaging some of the more important matters.

But in the end, maybe 60 or 80 years from now, and starting immediately, that will end. The US can't afford more adventurism, and other economies will eclipse the US with their size and solvency. New alliances will shake out, the energy transfers will become more important. Russia may become a First World country, and the US could slip into a banana republic Second World, with it's rapidly growing underclass and super-rich upper class.

Oddly, America's relative geographical isolation may become a detriment, as the flow of energy, goods and services is effected more easily with proximity. The US is on it's way to creating hostile governments across Latin and South America at a time when it needs allies.

One of America's great follies is to assume other nations should have America's best interests at heart, in short "be with us". If they factor themselves in first, they "are against us."

That's nonsense. Everyone should take the best care of themselves first. Just as America is trying.

It's a world of nuance, adaptation, adjustments, not blind ideology, not black and white. The sooner America can come out of the 19th century view of the world and recognize it's maturing neighbors the better off everyone will be.

But for the forseeable future we're broke, stuck printing money we don't have, hunkered down waiting for the devalued dollar and inflation to come.

Arf