The Age of Empire - Chp. 1-4

This first third of The Age of Empire discusses the differences of the late 19th century in comparison to the previous century and covers the industrial progression of each the regions and countries. It seems that within the century, many of the societies grew in their technological capabilities, thus seperating the first, second and third world nations. Whoever developed the best technology took the lead in the world society. This consistently seemed to be Europe who led with the "serious" development of cars, cinematography, and wireless. Also discussed in this reading was the economy of the late 19th century.

What struck me was the the notion of second world countries not being united by the many issues they had in common with their fellow second world countries. Also, that they only held this title because of their dependency on the first world. Additionally, Americans are often openly criticised for our reliance on a capitalist economy when Europe was the "original core of capitalist development." Although this is rather intuitive, it is still ironic that we take the brunt of shit for chosing the way we run our economics.

Hobsbawm states in the first chapter that never has there been more of a European century and there never will be again. In the wake of the steady decline of the US' current financial situation, who will take its place of dominance in the global society? There is much talk of China resuming this position, but would it be out of question to consider Europe a running candidate?
A. Gorno