Why did the United States become the leading economic power of the 20th century? The best short answer is that a ferocious belief that people have the power to transform their own lives gave Americans an unparalleled commitment to education, hard work and economic freedom.Ezra Klein counters:
Is that really the best short answer? Jules Jusserand, France's ambassador to the US from 1902 to 1925, once explained American power this way: "On the north, she had a weak neighbor; on the south, another weak neighbor; on the east, fish; on the west, fish." Add in a tremendous amount of arable land and natural resources, and you have the conditions for a kingdom able to focus on education and personal betterment and growth, rather than constantly working to defend its wealth and resources from nearby aggressors. But reshuffle the board a bit, place America next to Germany during the 20th Century, make it a combatant rather than a deus ex machina in the two World Wars, and you're probably looking at an extremely different balance of global power.So who's right? Why was the 20th century the American Century?
Actually, I sort of disagree with both these guys. Brooks' answer is smarmy fluff; sure, hard work and educational effort mattered, but plenty of other countries had those too. And Klein's answer ignores the fact that plenty of countries that were devastated by war - Europe, Japan - came back and did great economically in the second half of the century.
I've actually thought about this question a little bit, and here's my answer:
1. America is big and stable. Of all countries on Earth, only China, India, and the USSR had anywhere close to America's population in the 20th century. Of those, China and India both experienced vicious civil wars and paralyzing political strife. And the USSR might have taken the paranoid, self-destructive course it took precisely because its leaders were afraid of the empire breaking up (which it did anyway). It's a damn hard thing to hold a giant country together, and if you can do it the rewards are enormous. The U.S.'s constitutional, federal, democratic system has so far worked wonders for giving a big country the unity of a small country.
2. America is open to foreign technology. The USSR put a lot of effort into science and research, with some spectacular results. Japan and Europe had very respectable government-directed research efforts in the 20th century. But the U.S. absorbed the technological advances from those nations and ran with them, from French movies (which gave birth to Hollywood) to Japanese and British aircraft carriers (which gave us our mighty navy). While scientists desperately tried to escape the USSR, and decamped from stuffy 1970s Japan to work in South Korea, the U.S. invited and absorbed massive numbers of smart, educated people from Eastern Europe, Taiwan, India, Korea, and elsewhere.
3. America is reluctant to fight wars. As Klein pointed out, our geography helped with this one. But keep in mind that the 20th century might have been the Japanese Century had Japan not rabidly attacked basically every country it came into contact with. Same goes for Germany. If you go picking fights, eventually you're going to get your butt kicked. America did a great job of not picking fights - hanging back from involvement in the World Wars until it became necessary, wisely ending the Korean War before it got out of hand, and limiting our involvement in Vietnam.
So the lesson of the 20th century is: Keep out of wars, maintain political unity, and focus on technological progress. Are we following this recipe now? I'm worried that we may not be. The bitter enmity between conservatives and liberals is threatening our political stability. We're becoming more closed to foreign scientists and skilled workers, and some believe our R&D spending has not kept pace. And we've shown an aggressive militarism with the invasion of Iraq.
If we keep making these mistakes, the 21st century will probably not be anywhere near as good as the 20th.
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