Empires are not built to last.

Watching the Republican convention at Tampa in Florida is both amusing and bemusing. Speaker after speaker talked about the " American Dream ", the land of opportunity and the God given right for the US to be rich and powerful. What they do not seem to appreciate is that the American dream was based on an empire supported by overwhelming military superiority which allowed them to dictate to less powerful nations and exploit their natural resources. All empires, whether Roman, Ottoman or British, were established by military force and grew rich by slavery, taxing the hapless victims and plundering their resources. However after a time the conquerors became dependent on their serfs and the easy wealth earned, not through hard work or innovation, but by extortion. When the vanquished people sensed the weakness of the conquerors they revolted and the empire fell. The British sensed their end and knew that without American might they would have lost World War II so they attached themselves to the US as a voluntary slave nation supporting any military adventure that the US embarked upon. This allowed Britain to remain in the UN Security Council and strut about on the world stage. The US used its military strength to support dictators all over the world and to force unequal trade treaties on weaker countries. In the Uruguay round of trade talks African countries were forced to open up their markets to western imports, sell their resources at cheap rates and barred from selling finished goods by heavy taxes. Thus Ivory Coast could sell cocoa, which western companies would buy at dirt cheap prices, but could not sell chocolate because of taxes. All countries have now learnt and are now refusing to sign any trade deal that is unfair. Hence the WTO talks are not getting anywhere. The US prosperity was also built on consumption of huge amounts of energy and production of greenhouse gases. When the Arabs formed OPEC and increased the price of oil in the 70s it resulted in a severe recession. Even today petrol is selling at Rs 50/lit and there is an emotional outpouring of grief in the US to any rise in gas prices. The US is suffering a severe drought this year, forest fires in the west and a hurricane has just made landfall in Louisiana delaying the Republican convention by one day. Still it refuses to recognise the dangers of global warming and is trying to force India and China to cut greenhouse gases to the same extent as the US, which they are refusing to do. Losing wars in Vietnam and Iraq and achieving a draw in Korea and Afghanistan has not enhanced its prestige. China is now aspiring to be the new empire. They are using their military strength to claim the entire South China Sea and the right to exploit any natural resources that lie underneath. Also China is paying dictators in Africa to buy up mines and oil wells. Same game, different player. Thing is that the world has become faster so any empire is likely to last a very short time.