The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

against all others on a yearly basis. 11 The line chart in
Figure 2-3 is a plot of the indices of a few powerful nations
over a 129-year period from the end of the Napoleonic
War in 1816 to the end of World War II in 1945.
In a remarkable way, the plot registers the rise and fall
of great powers during this historical era.
Figure 2-3. Rise and Fall of Great Powers, 1816-1945.
In 1816, Great Britain was the most powerful nation
on earth, commanding about a third of the world’s
material capabilities. Riding on the wave of its Industrial
Revolution, Great Britain developed a dominant
navy, became the financial and trading center of the
world, and expanded its imperial reach (colonial control)
to every continent, hence as the saying goes, the
sun never set on the British Empire. As a systemic hegemon,
Great Britain, in concert with the other great
powers in Europe, established a system of political,
economic, and security order commonly known as the
Pax Britannica and preserved more than half of a century
of relative peace and stability in Europe (review
Figure 2-1).
11