I think it’s fairly simple: weaponry and borrowing. We have more military power by an order of magnitude than any other nation. If you’re a kid on the playground, and the bully is there, too, you keep an eye on him. You are interested in everything he is, to see if it will affect you. The other thing is that we have the largest economy of any nation. All the rest of the world is strongly affected by changes in our economy. A lot of our economy is financed by other nations, particularly China. No nation who lends us money wants us to go into default. They can’t afford to lose that much, so they can’t afford to have America go down. It’s not like it’s some conspiracy or miscarriage of justice. It’s not like Americans are better than people from other nations. It’s just that what we do has more impact on everyone else compared to any other nation’s actions. However, the world need not worry too much about this. China is rapidly building its military and space capabilities. They have a billion more people. Those people are rapidly moving up economically. They are doing it so fast, no one can get a grip on it. They will probably surpass the power of the US before the end of the century. If you think the US impact on the world is unfair, just wait until the Chinese have the power. You think we’re self-centered? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The Chinese are probably the most self-centered people, not just on the planet, but in the known universe. Right now, the US is like the tail wagging the dog. When China hits its stride, the dog will be wagging it’s tail. Only it won’t be a dog. It’ll be a cat. A cat that knows it is the center of the universe.