http://www.mediaorchard.com/2012/12/29/t...the-world/

1. Italy
2. UK
3. US
4. China
5. Greece
6. Egypt
7. Iraq
8. India
9. Iran
10. Chad

what do you guys think?

That this is a topic too subjective to be worthy of legit commentary.

1 Roman Empire
2 Persian Empire
3 Egypt
4 Various Chinese Dynasties
5 Babylon Empire
6 Assyrian Empire
7 Mongols
8 UK Empire 1600-mid 1900's
9 US (Still young and will move up the list over more time)
10 India

(06-04-2014 03:14 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  1 Roman Empire
2 Persian Empire
3 Egypt
4 Various Chinese Dynasties
5 Babylon Empire
6 Assyrian Empire
7 Mongols
8 UK Empire 1600-mid 1900's
9 US (Still young and will move up the list over more time)
10 India

how much time will the US have to wait to move up?

personally I look it like an exponential ranking system of the years.

50 years of domination in the modern era is like 500 years of domination in the BCs

(06-04-2014 03:14 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  That this is a topic too subjective to be worthy of legit commentary.

i hope this is not the case.

The author is an idiot, why give Iraq credit for Mesopotamia, Assyria and Babylon? Why give Chad credit for being the cradle of humanity? As much as love living in the US how can you judge wealth in 2014 to wealth in 23AD? To me the greatest nations were the nations in the past that stood the test of time and are researched in depth today.

I'd place the UK at the very top. We owe more to them, and they more to themselves and Saxons, than anything from the Roman Empire.

You could make a solid argument for neither the UK or US owing much, or even being related to, the Romans.

(06-04-2014 03:18 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:14 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  1 Roman Empire
2 Persian Empire
3 Egypt
4 Various Chinese Dynasties
5 Babylon Empire
6 Assyrian Empire
7 Mongols
8 UK Empire 1600-mid 1900's
9 US (Still young and will move up the list over more time)
10 India

how much time will the US have to wait to move up?

personally I look it like an exponential ranking system of the years.

50 years of domination in the modern era is like 500 years of domination in the BCs

I don't know. To me the US been a superpower since WW1 (perhaps a few decades earlier), therefore we've only been a superpower for a little over 100 years. We've got a ways to go to pass the UK and further up the list.

I don't think you can say we ever pass the UK. We are essentially their successor and intimately connected as to say they always get a portion of the credit.

Fair point.

(06-04-2014 03:18 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:14 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  That this is a topic too subjective to be worthy of legit commentary.

i hope this is not the case.

It's not a knock on you, just the author for deigning to claim such a list. Kind of like all those slideshows users create on Bleacher Report. For example, can you really connect Italy of today back to the Roman Empire? The same for Egypt and even China.

Next, what are the standards by which such a thing is measured? Size of empire, duration? And trying to calculate and adjust for things like power, wealth and influence is IMO a waste of time.

(06-04-2014 03:25 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  I don't think you can say we ever pass the UK. We are essentially their successor and intimately connected as to say they always get a portion of the credit.

I don't even think you can separate Pax Britannia from Pax Americana. The US basically just relieved UK of the watch so to speak.

(06-04-2014 03:21 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  I'd place the UK at the very top. We owe more to them, and they more to themselves and Saxons, than anything from the Roman Empire.

You could make a solid argument for neither the UK or US owing much, or even being related to, the Romans.

one of the most interesting debates I have had is "who is most responsible for the spread of the english language? US or UK"

personally I think it is the US and & here is why

culturally with our music, movie, & software output that is the single biggest reason why the rest of the world speaks english.

at the same time the english language has 5X as many words today than in the days of shakespeare. most of the new words came after 1776, of which the 1980s and beyond has the single largest increase. a large % of these new words were coined as a result of american inventions and have become standards in other languages.

while we owe a lot to them there is a lot that IMO they owe us as well.

(06-04-2014 03:23 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:18 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:14 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  1 Roman Empire
2 Persian Empire
3 Egypt
4 Various Chinese Dynasties
5 Babylon Empire
6 Assyrian Empire
7 Mongols
8 UK Empire 1600-mid 1900's
9 US (Still young and will move up the list over more time)
10 India

how much time will the US have to wait to move up?

personally I look it like an exponential ranking system of the years.

50 years of domination in the modern era is like 500 years of domination in the BCs

I don't know. To me the US been a superpower since WW1 (perhaps a few decades earlier), therefore we've only been a superpower for a little over 100 years. We've got a ways to go to pass the UK and further up the list.

i trace US being a superpower to the 1870s. Europe was just too naive to realize it until 1942

Few nations have spilled more blood and defeated more foes wihout adding an inch of territory. What the US did, right or wrong, was to help defeat fascism and communism in Europe over the course of 50 years.

(06-04-2014 03:37 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:23 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:18 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:14 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  1 Roman Empire
2 Persian Empire
3 Egypt
4 Various Chinese Dynasties
5 Babylon Empire
6 Assyrian Empire
7 Mongols
8 UK Empire 1600-mid 1900's
9 US (Still young and will move up the list over more time)
10 India

how much time will the US have to wait to move up?

personally I look it like an exponential ranking system of the years.

50 years of domination in the modern era is like 500 years of domination in the BCs

I don't know. To me the US been a superpower since WW1 (perhaps a few decades earlier), therefore we've only been a superpower for a little over 100 years. We've got a ways to go to pass the UK and further up the list.

i trace US being a superpower to the 1870s. Europe was just too naive to realize it until 1942

Thats pretty fair... Our power and wealth was being put into the west so it was not apparent..

But the Navies of the United States and Confederate States made every war ship on the seas pretty suspect in the 1860's.

(06-04-2014 03:40 PM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote:  Few nations have spilled more blood and defeated more foes wihout adding an inch of territory. What the US did, right or wrong, was to help defeat fascism and communism in Europe over the course of 50 years.

no disrespect to the sacrifices to our servicemen from that era, but WWII was a cakewalk for us compared to the other allied countries not named russia who didn't gain any territory either.

(06-04-2014 03:34 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:21 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  I'd place the UK at the very top. We owe more to them, and they more to themselves and Saxons, than anything from the Roman Empire.

You could make a solid argument for neither the UK or US owing much, or even being related to, the Romans.

one of the most interesting debates I have had is "who is most responsible for the spread of the english language? US or UK"

personally I think it is the US and & here is why

culturally with our music, movie, & software output that is the single biggest reason why the rest of the world speaks english.

at the same time the english language has 5X as many words today than in the days of shakespeare. most of the new words came after 1776, of which the 1980s and beyond has the single largest increase. a large % of these new words were coined as a result of american inventions and have become standards in other languages.

while we owe a lot to them there is a lot that IMO they owe us as well.

There are three major components to the spread of English IMO. They are:

- Control of the Seas
- Inventing Air Travel and Establishing its standards
- Computing

Clearly, Great Britain owned the first one which the US continues to maintain today. The second one originated in the US while the third one is a bit harder to parse. If you consider what Turning and Babbage did early computing then obviously you have to give it to Great Britain.

(06-04-2014 03:42 PM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:37 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:23 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:18 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:14 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  1 Roman Empire
2 Persian Empire
3 Egypt
4 Various Chinese Dynasties
5 Babylon Empire
6 Assyrian Empire
7 Mongols
8 UK Empire 1600-mid 1900's
9 US (Still young and will move up the list over more time)
10 India

how much time will the US have to wait to move up?

personally I look it like an exponential ranking system of the years.

50 years of domination in the modern era is like 500 years of domination in the BCs

I don't know. To me the US been a superpower since WW1 (perhaps a few decades earlier), therefore we've only been a superpower for a little over 100 years. We've got a ways to go to pass the UK and further up the list.

i trace US being a superpower to the 1870s. Europe was just too naive to realize it until 1942

Thats pretty fair... Our power and wealth was being put into the west so it was not apparent..

But the Navies of the United States and Confederate States made every war ship on the seas pretty suspect in the 1860's.

this ^^^^

the civil war rewrote the book on modern war tactics

(06-04-2014 03:46 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:34 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 03:21 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  I'd place the UK at the very top. We owe more to them, and they more to themselves and Saxons, than anything from the Roman Empire.

You could make a solid argument for neither the UK or US owing much, or even being related to, the Romans.

one of the most interesting debates I have had is "who is most responsible for the spread of the english language? US or UK"

personally I think it is the US and & here is why

culturally with our music, movie, & software output that is the single biggest reason why the rest of the world speaks english.

at the same time the english language has 5X as many words today than in the days of shakespeare. most of the new words came after 1776, of which the 1980s and beyond has the single largest increase. a large % of these new words were coined as a result of american inventions and have become standards in other languages.

while we owe a lot to them there is a lot that IMO they owe us as well.

There are three major components to the spread of English IMO. They are:

- Control of the Seas
- Inventing Air Travel and Establishing its standards
- Computing

Clearly, Great Britain owned the first own which the US continues to maintain today. The second one originated in the US while the third one is a bit harder to parse. If you consider what Turning and Babbage did early computing then obviously you have to give it to Great Britain.

those are good points. personally I think GBs greatest accomplishment with the spread of the english language was making it the standard in india with its large population.