I beg to differ with some views expressed above. The United States of America will be the most powerful nation for most, if not all, of 21st century. You talk about China and India as next super powers but I don't think so. Compared to good ole' US, they are so far behind the comparison itself ceases to exist. Reminds me of Japan in the 80's. Everybody thought that Japan will rule the world with batallions of Sony and Panasonic. Droves of people queued to learn Japanese because they wanted to learn the language of the coming master. But then what happened? Haatti aayo haatti aayo, foossa! American economy is so far ahead of these two wannabe super powers - China and India - that it will take more than a century for them to catch up, if they ever do. American politics is firmly established on democratic institution. This cannot be said by far of China. India is in better standing there, but it is so messy with feudalistic stain that fair politics can barely rise above. American greenback is and will remain the world currency and dominance of which is hard to approach by any other. Chinese Yuan is artificially buoyed. Once that is brought to the market level, as it eventually will come to, Chinese purchasing parity will plummet. American defense is formidable. Though China has been steadily increasing its defense budget it cannot afford to match the US's which is greater than all of the world's combined. American technology is paramount. Sure your t-shirt might be made in India and your flash-light may be manufactured in China, but your airplane, your space shuttle, your latest computer chip, your most advanced pharmaceutical drug, etc. are all built in... yes, you guessed it right... in the U S of A. American culture is predominant. Sure there are Bollywood and Beijing Opera, but can they match Hollywood and Rock 'n Roll? I think not! I can go on... but I think the point is made. So, those of you who are counting on your Chinese and Indian brothers to surpass America, keep counting.