[SubiculumCode]

Yes. Right now...because the U.S. had the biggest baddest military that the world had ever known. If we had not had that, someone else would have made one. It's one thing to forgo an option that does not seem viable versus expecting the same decision when it is.

[alchemism]

You mean like the British Empire? ....The Spanish Empire maybe?

The only modern contender, the Japanese Empire, arose partly by the encouragement of Teddy Roosevelt.