As the dust settled after World War II America controlled half the world's manufacturing capacity By the end of the Cold War it possessed nearly half the planet's military forces spread across eight hundred bases & much of its wealth Beyond what was on display the United States had also built a formidable diplomatic & clandestine apparatus Indeed more than anything else it is this secretive tier of global surveillance & covert operations that distinguishes the US from the great empires of the past But even as it has secured an unrivalled power network through satellites drones & cyberwarfare recent years have seen America's share of the global economy diminish its diplomatic alliances falter & its claim to moral leadership abandoned Meanwhile China is emerging as the world's economic powerhouse poised to integrate the world island' stretching from Shanghai to Madrid & lay claim to the South China Sea The nineteenth century belonged to Britain & the twentieth to America Will China take the twenty-first?