History Main / AmericaTakesOverTheWorld

The United States of America is capable not only of utilizing its long-range nuclear arsenal to devastate almost anyone anywhere at any time, but possibly also using ground forces to invade and occupy any country they can land on including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has influenced other countries worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans including their high school and college students have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]], by upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).

* Perhaps the most dramatic time the USA explicitly took possession of land besides the contiguous United States by force was in the Spanish American War, and seized territory generally either given back to its occupants or agreements were signed to do so--however some territories, such as UsefulNotes/{{Guam}}, remained in US possession. The USA's preferred method was to make economic partners of defeated nations and leave a few military bases behind, but restore political and military independence. It invaded the Philippines, recently liberated from the Spanish by the war, and occupied it by force against a resistance army. It also took American Samoa following a conflict with the islands' previous imperial overlord, Germany--this involved partitioning American Samoa from the rest of UsefulNotes/{{Samoa}}.

Although not required, OppressiveStatesOfAmerica can easily overlap with this trope for obvious reasons. The more negative flavor of EagleLand also often combines elements of both.

The United States of America is capable not only of utilizing its long-range nuclear arsenal to devastate almost anyone anywhere at any time, but possibly also using ground forces to invade and occupy any country they can land on including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has influenced other countries worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans including their high school and college students have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]] [[note]]Which, while [[ExactWords technically true]], is misleading in the same way as saying that [[MathematiciansAnswer the average person has one ovary and one testicle]]. White Americans outscore White Europeans, Hispanic and Black Americans outscore Hispanics and blacks in other countries, and Asian Americans are in the top five for Asians. The supposedly "average" score is caused by the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity the US is far more diverse than similarly developed countries]].[[/note]], by upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).

* Indirectly in the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series; the Galactic Patrol have their headquarters in New York City due to its role as the leading financial and political powerhouse of Earth and therefore the Solar System. It has rivals in London, Chicago and [[TheGreatPoliticsMessup Stalingrad]], but is way ahead of them.

* The "Pax Americana" that started after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is the closest realization of this trope that RealLife has yet seen. With the [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire British]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French]] empires bankrupted by war (and were already being rapidly outpaced by the Americans in the early 20th century), the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany German]], [[UsefulNotes/FascistItaly Italian]], and [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japanese]] empires destroyed entirely, and [[GloriousMotherRussia the USSR]] and UsefulNotes/{{China}}, the only other great powers that could still stand on their own, retrenching into their own spheres of influence while adopting very inefficient economic models, the USA, untouched by war and possessing the world's largest industrial capacity by several orders of magnitude, emerged dominant over nearly every corner of the globe save for the core of Eurasia. Like the Soviet Union however, America's empire was largely indirect, given that the nation was officially anti-imperialist and exploited this tendency to appeal to the post-colonial world. With post-war Western Europe reliant on American aid, and therefore subservient to Washington, the USA could pressure its allies into abandoning its traditional empires in the third world, letting the Americans set up loyal puppet states either covertly or overtly. While they were not ruled by Washington directly, these puppet states were useful in warding off Soviet influence and securing American cultural and economic hegemony. This unofficial empire of loyal and puppet states managed to span roughly half the world. American power reached its peak in TheNineties after TheGreatPoliticsMessUp, with the term "hyperpower" used to describe a nation that ''everybody'', from its allies to its enemies, had to heed. Some people, including US President UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, described American power after the fall of communism as so great that it verged on a OneWorldOrder -- and of course, some {{conspiracy theorist}}s believe it goes well beyond "verged on". [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld The rise of China after their market and trade reforms]] and [[MakeTheBearAngryAgain the resurgence of Russia]] since then have chipped away at this somewhat, with China having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_sector_composition overtaken the US]] as the world's largest manufacturer and developing an economy somewhat in the same league (2/3 the size of the U.S. one), combined with Russia at least regaining enough strength to exert influence within its immediate vicinity.\\\

The United States of America is capable not only of utilizing its long-range nuclear arsenal to devastate almost anyone anywhere at any time, but possibly also using ground forces to invade and occupy any country they can land on including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has influenced other countries worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans including their high school and college students have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]] [[note]]Which, while [[ExactWords technically true]], is misleading in the same way as saying that [[MathematiciansAnswer the average person has one ovary and one testicle]]. White Americans outscore White Europeans, Hispanic and Black Americans outscore Hispanics and blacks in other countries, and Asian Americans are in the top five for Asians. The supposedly "average" score is caused by the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity the US is far more diverse than similarly developed countries]].[[/note]], by upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world,[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).

The United States of America is capable not only of utilizing its long-range nuclear arsenal to devastate almost anyone anywhere at any time, but possibly also using ground forces to invade and occupy any country they can land on including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has influenced other countries worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans including their high school and college students have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]] [[note]]Which, while [[ExactWords technically true]], is misleading in the same way as saying that [[MathematiciansAnswer the average person has one ovary and one testicle]]. White Americans outscore White Europeans, Hispanic and Black Americans outscore Hispanics and blacks in other countries, and Asian Americans are in the top five for Asians. The supposedly "average" score is caused by the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity the US is far more diverse than similarly developed countries]].[[/note]] By upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world,[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).

The United States of America is capable not only of utilizing its long-range nuclear arsenal to devastate almost anyone, anywhere, at any time; but possibly also using ground forces to invade and occupy any country they can land on including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has influenced other countries worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans including their high school and college students have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]] [[note]]Which, while [[ExactWords technically true]], is misleading in the same way as saying that [[MathematiciansAnswer the average person has one ovary and one testicle]]. White Americans outscore White Europeans, Hispanic and Black Americans outscore Hispanics and blacks in other countries, and Asian Americans are in the top five for Asians. The supposedly "average" score is caused by the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity the US is far more diverse than similarly developed countries]].[[/note]] By upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world,[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).

The United States of America is capable not only of utilizing its long-range nuclear arsenal to devastate almost anyone,anywhere,at anytime; but possibly also using ground forces to invade and occupy any country they can land on including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has influenced other countries worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans including their high school and college students have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]] [[note]]Which, while [[ExactWords technically true]], is misleading in the same way as saying that [[MathematiciansAnswer the average person has one ovary and one testicle]]. White Americans outscore White Europeans, Hispanic and Black Americans outscore Hispanics and blacks in other countries, and Asian Americans are in the top five for Asians. The supposedly "average" score is caused by the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity the US is far more diverse than similarly developed countries]].[[/note]] by upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world,[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', while at a beach in Rio, the lifeguard was able to tell that Homer was an American because he wore [[http://afeatheradrift.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/try_and_stop_us.jpg a shirt]] where UncleSam was consuming the world with the lines "try and stop us" on it.

* In 1893, Lucas M Miller, a member of the US House of Representatives from Wisconsin [[https://gizmodo.com/congress-once-considered-renaming-the-us-the-united-st-1608911779]], in the spirit of this trope, proposed an amendments to the United States Constitution to change the name of the United States of America to the “United States of Earth”. Well not technically a claim of global governance, his argument was that “it is possible for the Republic to grow through the admission of new States into the Union [[OneWorldOrder until every Nation on Earth has become part of it.]]” and that the Senate and House of Representatives could [[LightningCanDoAnything “vote by electricity”]]. It is needless to say that this and other goofy proposals, including another amendment to abolish both the Army and Navy, never really got anywhere and he failed to be nominated for another term.

->''"Smack talk has no effect on those stronger than you. You and your men have the power to bring men and whole companies to your heels, but we have the power to bring entire nations to our heels, if not to ruin."''
-->-- '''Manga/BlackLagoon'''

The USA is capable not only of exterminating with its long-range nuclear arsenal, but possibly also using ground forces to successfully invade and occupy any country on Earth including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has grown very popular worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans including their high school and college students have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]] [[note]]Which, while [[ExactWords technically true]], is misleading in the same way as saying that the [[MathematiciansAnswer average person has one ovary and one testicle]]. White Americans outscore White Europeans, Hispanic and Black Americans outscore Hispanics and blacks in other countries, and Asian Americans are in the top five for Asians. The supposedly modest "average" score is caused by the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity the US is more diverse than other developed countries]].[[/note]] by upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world,[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).

Although not required, OppressiveStatesOfAmerica can often overlap with this trope, with a United States that is oppressive and imperialistic abroad as well as [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny tyrannical]] at home. The more negative type of EagleLand also often combines elements of both.

* In 1893, Lucas M Miller, a member of the US House of Representatives from Wisconsin [[https://gizmodo.com/congress-once-considered-renaming-the-us-the-united-st-1608911779]], in the spirit of this trope, proposed an amendments to the United States Constitution to change the name of the United States of America to the “United States of Earth”. Well not technically a claim of global governance, his argument was that “it is possible for the Republic to grow through the admission of new States into the Union [[OneWorldOrder until every Nation on Earth has become part of it.]]” and that the Senate and House of Representatives could [[LightningCanDoAnything “vote by electricity”]]. It is needless to say that this and if others goofy proposals, (inculcating another amendment to abolish both the Army and Navy), never really got anywhere and he failed to be nominated for another term.

[[folder:Films - Animated]]

[[folder:Films - Live Action]]

* In the future of ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' Canada is referred to briefly as North Montana.

In 1893, Lucas M Miller a member of the US House of Representatives from Wisconsin [[https://gizmodo.com/congress-once-considered-renaming-the-us-the-united-st-1608911779]] , in the spirit of this trope, proposed amendments to the United States Constitution to change the name of the United States of America to the “United States of Earth”. Well not technically a calam of global governance, his argument was that “it is possible for the Republic to grow through the admission of new States into the Union [[OneWorldOrder until every Nation on Earth has become part of it.]]” and that the Senate and House of Representatives could [[LightingCanDoAnything “vote by electricity”]]. It is needless to say that this and if others goofy proposals, (inculcating another amendment to abolish both the Army and Navy), never really got anywhere and he failed to be nominated for another term.

Opposing tropes are DividedStatesOfAmerica, FallenStatesOfAmerica, and InvadedStatesOfAmerica.

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'' most of the world is dominated by the Holy Brittainian Empire, but Britain itself has been lost. However, the American Revolution was crushed and thus the colonies became the new base of the empire, which proceeded to take over the entirety of both American continents.

* Bill Williamson in ''Film/Rampage2009'' and its two sequels (directed by Scandinavian socialist Uwe Boll) states this trope is in full effect and he is anti-American. Bill, who was a low-class mechanic making $8 or less an hour, took to becoming a mass shooter and did armed robbery on a bank to escape his financial problems. Bill asserts that America is without universal health care, strict gun control, regulation on big banks, livable wages and overspends on its military and defense enforcing its best interests upon foreign lands instead of spending on its own people for health care, education, housing or food.

* The "Pax Americana" that started after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is the closest realization of this trope that RealLife has yet seen. With the [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire British]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French]] empires bankrupted by war (and were already being rapidly outpaced by the Americans in the early 20th century), the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany German]], [[UsefulNotes/FascistItaly Italian]], and [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japanese]] empires destroyed entirely, and [[GloriousMotherRussia the USSR]] and UsefulNotes/{{China}}, the only other great powers that could still stand on their own, retrenching into their own spheres of influence while adopting very inefficient economic models, the USA, untouched by war and possessing the world's largest industrial capacity by several orders of magnitude, emerged dominant over nearly every corner of the globe save for the core of Eurasia. American power reached its peak in TheNineties after TheGreatPoliticsMessUp, with the term "hyperpower" used to describe a nation that ''everybody'', from its allies to its enemies, had to heed. Some people, including US President UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, described American power after the fall of communism as so great that it verged on a OneWorldOrder -- and of course, some {{conspiracy theorist}}s believe it goes well beyond "verged on". [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld The rise of China after their market and trade reforms]] and [[MakeTheBearAngryAgain the resurgence of Russia]] since then have chipped away at this somewhat, with China having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_sector_composition overtaken the US]] as the world's largest manufacturer and developing an economy somewhat in the same league (2/3 the size of the U.S. one), combined with Russia at least regaining enough strength to exert influence within its immediate vicinity.\\\

* In the future of ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'' Canada is referred to briefly as North Montana.

Even in spite of all this, however, America still remains the world's preeminent military, economic, and cultural force, accounting for 25% of world GDP and 40% of world military spending on their own. The US' allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Organization of American States, as well as major non-NATO allies like UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}, UsefulNotes/SouthKorea, UsefulNotes/SaudiArabia, and UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}, comprise the lion's share of world power; if they were collectively viewed as an American empire (as critics of American foreign policy often proclaim it to be), then the United States would currently be in possession of the greatest empire that history has ever known, with 60%+ of world GDP and the vast majority of the world's intellectual capital and industrial capacity (to wit, South Korea alone has a larger economy than Russia). The US dollar is the world's reserve currency, with only the euro as a serious competitor (and even then, it is a distant second). Its military can deploy hundreds of thousands of soldiers supported by carrier-borne aircraft to any corner of the globe on short notice and doesn't even need a single American soldier on the ground to destroy minor powers, as interventions in Iraq, Syria, Serbia, and Libya have demonstrated. Its economy [[https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/01/02/the-fastest-growers-and-biggest-shrinkers-of-2019 still prospers]] even as most other developed countries stagnate and rapidly growing middle income economies (like China) begin to slow. [[EaglelandOsmosis American food, films, TV series, fashion and pop music can be found on every continent]], and its celebrities renowned throughout the world, to the point where both supporters and critics of the US have cited its 'soft power' (or, alternatively, 'cultural imperialism') as one of its greatest tools and weapons in maintaining its alliances. The only nations that are openly antagonistic to the US (as opposed to frenemies like Russia and China) are mostly so-called "rogue states" with few friends of any kind in the world, like UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}, UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, UsefulNotes/{{Syria}} and UsefulNotes/{{Libya}} (before UsefulNotes/TheArabSpring).

** Also, George Washington is referred to as the "Father of our country" by Leela in 'All the President's Heads'.

* In ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'', this was Cobra Commander's intent for the whole film. Following Cobra's successful subjugation of the White House and kidnapping the US President as while Zartan impersonates the real one, Zartan calls for a mandatory global summit of every country that holds nuclear weapons for universal disarmament. When the Russian president refuses to give up his own nuclear arsenal (plus standing up for his ally China's self-defense), Zartan decides there's only one option left: fire the US nukes at them. To prevent a global cataclysm that could kill billions, the rest of the atomic powers all unilaterally destroy their own nuclear arsenals only when Zartan starts eliminating his own. Then Zartan unleashes Project Zeus, a satellite Cobra built and installed in space that fires tungsten-rods capable of destroying any city of their choosing. At that point Cobra Commander stepped in and was about to declare himself the new Dictator of the Earth before the newly reformed GI Joe intervened. But even though Cobra Commander lost his iron grip on the world, America still remains the winner at the end since the rest of the countries lack the finances to rebuild their nuclear arsenals back to its original numbers, albeit just not as powerful as at the beginning because the GI Joes dismantle Project Zeus.

The USA is capable not only of exterminating with its long-range nuclear arsenal, but possibly also using ground forces to successfully invade and occupy any country on Earth including China and India (although the experience of Vietnam should show that superior military hardware is no guarantee against a lower-tech foe with sheer numbers, determination, and significant foreign material aid). Given that the USA chews through about half the entire world's military spending ''on its own'', it might still have this kind of power in forty years or so. Thus, a common conceit of sci-fi and some {{satire}} is for the USA to take over the world. Jokes about entire countries becoming the n+50th state are common. The recent economic shift in the new millennium will put this theory to the test. Since at least the 1980s, American culture has grown very popular worldwide due to the rise of computers and the Internet, fast food joints (i.e. [=McDonald=]'s) and Hollywood movies that use computer generated imagery (CGI) and special effects that are far more renowned than those found in another film industry. Americans even at their high school and college levels have a more advanced working knowledge of computer science than any other country. While its secondary school test scores are sometimes dismissed as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015_ranking_summary average]] [[note]]Which, while [[ExactWords technically true]], is misleading in the same way as saying that the [[MathematiciansAnswer average person has one ovary and one testicle]]. White Americans outscore White Europeans, Hispanic and Black Americans outscore Hispanics and blacks in other countries, and Asian Americans are in the top five for Asians. The supposedly modest "average" score is caused by the fact that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Race_and_ethnicity the US is more diverse than other developed countries]].[[/note]] by upper income nation standards, it has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tertiary_education_attainment very high rate of tertiary education attainment]] (even by upper income standards) and the best universities in the world,[[note]]On the Shanghai Rankings, Times Higher Education Rankings, U.S. News and World Report Rankings, and Center For World University Rankings, the U.S. possesses around a quarter of the world's top 1,000 universities and the majority of the world's top 100, despite having less than 5% of the planet's population.[[/note]] and is considered to possess greater technology and better-access markets to commodities than any other nation. A strong plurality of the world's billionaires are Americans, with Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos being the richest (although fluctuations in his company's value can make him swap ranks with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).