America Will Be the Last Superpower, Here’s Why
Sep 30, 2025 · 13:45
The United States stays the world's last superpower because geography, not politics or the economy, predetermined it, argues Phil Andrews. Glaciers carved natural deep water ports on America's coasts, and the $340 million Louisiana Purchase — worth at least $60 trillion today — delivered the Mississippi Basin, with more navigable river miles than the rest of the world combined. China, hemmed to one ocean with 80% of its oil passing the Malacca Strait; Africa, with an unnavigable Congo River and 20% of the planet's land but under 5% of its coastline; Russia, lacking warm water ports; and England, made invadable once planes crossed the Channel, all lack that power. Egypt's Nile produced history's most stable society, while two oceans have spared the U.S. rebuilding for 150 years.
