>I've deduced some similarity between pax romana and pax americana decades ago, but it's only the general mechanism that bears resemblance. The times are different, and the lack of competition makes them again different from the times when I noticed the similarity. For now, the noble barbarians are too silent... or the media are blind to their coming, or are looking in the wrong direction. Anyway, neither Rome was ruined in a day.

On a tangent. I just finished "To Rule The Waves" (a book about the history of the British Navy) and they touch on the "Pax Britannica" and "Pax Americana". The author claims that WW1 and WW2 were caused by the weaking of the British might and British Empire, ending the "Pax Britanica". German and Japan saw England was weaking and felt they could challenge them. Fortunately (used with some irony) the twilight of one pax was the dawn of another.