Leadership 2030

Introduction: Empire and Manure

“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.”

—Mark Twain,¹ humorist

Name the following country: It is the richest nation in the world, with the world's highest standard of living, largest military force, and most developed education system. It is the global center of business, finance, innovation, and invention, and its currency is the international standard of value.

The answer is: Great Britain.

Actually, we misled you a little. More precisely, the answer is the British Empire in the year 1900.

Even more recently than that, in 1922, the British Empire was still the largest empire the world had ever known. It spanned 12.7 million square miles (33 million square kilometers), roughly a quarter of ...