Teaching history can be frustrating, but sometimes students actually figure stuff out and learn a thing or two, unlike some of our political leaders. For example, just the other day one of my students asked why there are no great empires anymore, and countries don’t go around conquering like they used to do. That’s a big question, without a certain answer, and some would say states a false premise. But it is also true that since the end of World War II the world has witnessed something unprecedented in the rest of world history, which is a benevolent nation as the world’s dominant power. Never in history was there a nation (particularly in the immediate aftermath of World War II when the U.S. held a nuclear monopoly) which like the United States, held an overwhelming military advantage against all comers, that chose not to aggrandize itself through domination of others and conquest. That restraint, and the immense military and economic power that lay behind it, also...(Read Full Article)