Strategic Factors Influencing the British and American Empires

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States has been the sole remaining superpower. It is not a stretch of the imagination to consider it an empire. America dominates the world culturally, politically, economically, and militarily, in much the same way as a traditional empire, although without the direct possession of territory. The last global power was Great Britain during the reigns of Victoria and Edward. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the British Empire was the envy of the other great powers; the greatest empire the world had ever seen to that time; the time of the Pax Britannica. Since the end of World War II, America and the West generally have enjoyed peace and prosperity. Despite the Cold War, occasional regional wars, and a variety of local conflicts and revolutions, this era is often referred to as the Pax Americana" in view of the protection and stability provided by American military and economic power. This paper will examine four factors that influenced the strategic environment and the development of the British and American empires.