superpower
"This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores." - Barack Obama (National Democratic Convention Acceptance Speech)
This just in, in relation to Obama's statement....
Source: http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2008/overall_rankings/fullrankings/
13 out of 20 Universities are from US
11HARVARD UniversityUnited States22=YALE UniversityUnited States32=University of CAMBRIDGEUnited Kingdom42=University of OXFORDUnited Kingdom57=CALIFORNIA Institute of Technology (Calt...United States65IMPERIAL College LondonUnited Kingdom79UCL (University College London)United Kingdom87=University of CHICAGOUnited States910MASSACHUSETTS Institute of Technology (M...United States1011COLUMBIA UniversityUnited States1114University of PENNSYLVANIAUnited States126PRINCETON UniversityUnited States13=13DUKE UniversityUnited States13=15JOHNS HOPKINS UniversityUnited States1520=CORNELL UniversityUnited States1616AUSTRALIAN National UniversityAustralia1719STANFORD UniversityUnited States1838=University of MICHIGANUnited States1917University of TOKYOJapan2012MCGILL UniversityCanada
Politics is persuasion. I am not interested in politics, I am more interested in the drama that goes behind it.
Let us look back at Barack's statement above. By far it is the most egoistic, assertive and boastful statement I have heard from an American so far. But, in as much as I abhor their political and cultural domination, I admire their great sense of nationalism.
Barack's speech is like a verbal description of America today.