ubernoir wrote:

America, the shining city on a hill, swollen over centuries into a reluctant empire, faces a long march into the twilight of its greatness. Our duty now is to supervise our relative decline. Other superpowers shall rise to match us: China, surely, and newly consolidated Europe, and maybe Russia or Japan. From ancient Rome through the Ming Dynasty, from the days of the Spanish Armada to the British Empire, the implacable rule of history is that no one stays on top forever.
...
All this strikes me as the cue to place a bet on America. Don't despair: double down.

absolutely
i would bet on the US being THE global power in 50 years

I'll decline that confidence for exactly one of the things cited in the article, thinking like a bookie. While the US as THE dominant player is an either/or proposition, that is not the same as saying it's a 50/50 one. The odds are much more like the odds at the start of football season for "Who will win the Super Bowl this year?" The US may be giving the best odds, but you're still looking at something like 3 or 4 to 1.

Is it possible? Sure. I find it likely that the US will be a major player for some time to come, but THE player? Unless we come to grips with how we got here and the lessons from our own history that we seem to be forgetting, the possibility the the US could end up as the country in Idiocracy is also a strong contender.