Since World War II, the United States has often been placed No. 1 in world rankings of various kinds. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States was often referred to as the sole remaining superpower. As the twenty-first century proceeds, however, the position of the United States at the top of the rankings is being questioned.
What considerations, measures, and weightings do you think should be used in devising such rankings? Use your method to devise a ranking of the top three political states in a century of your choice before the twentieth, and suggest a likely ranking by the end of the twenty-first century.