> There wouldn't even be such a thing as a silicon valley billionaire if the United States wasn't the most wildly successful political entity for the past 2000 years.

I don’t know that I would position the USA in this way.

Different metrics lead to different “winners”:

Longevity: Imperial China

Institutional legacy: Rome

Global reach: British Empire

Scientific/cultural transmission: Islamic Caliphates

Modern dominance: United States

Another lens:

* Rome & China = stability, governance, internal cohesion.

* Britain & the US = networks, capital markets, technology leverage.

* Caliphates = knowledge platforms, cosmopolitan integration.