Soft power does more of the heavy lifting of empire than hard power does.

Think of Rome at its peak. It still could not have fought and conquered all its enemies at once, despite its massive military advantages.

What gets most people to go along with the empire is what the empire can offer them in terms of progress. In other words, they consent to be governed by the empire because life under the empire is better than the alternative.

Now, life under the US Empire isn't looking too hot, but under the rival Chinese power bloc it looks quite a bit brighter.

Whether this remains the case, who can say?

>>511367146 (OP)
British subjects mostly went along with the imperial metropole because they knew modern technology was necessary and could provide, eventually, a much better way of life.

True. Britain could have maintained the Empire beyond the 1950s if it had been more pro-active in this regard. Also, going back to the Thirteen Colonies, it could probably have prevented the formation of the U.S by making some concessions. In that timeline the modern U.S would just be an extension of Canada.

>>511369548
Premature decolonization, of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia etc., pushed by ambitious and overly zealous and hopeful colonials, was a disaster for the world, even more so for the former colonial countries than for the European metropoles.
A long process of decolonization, lasting generations, with nation building enforced upon the colonies to bind them each into a functioning polity and economic system, would have led to much better results.
The British Empire might be the most influential empire in world history, either that or the Roman Empire. It's a toss up between the two. In some ways, the informal American Empire of recent times is just an extension of the British Empire.

>>511367146 (OP)
>but under the rival Chinese power bloc it looks quite a bit brighter.

You are fucking mad.

>>511370815
Think of it from an African's perspective. China is building roads, railroads, factories, mines, and a lot more across Africa. The US just sometimes sends food aid but doesn't help with infrastructure. Meanwhile, the US's international financial institutions, especially the IMF and World Bank, keep African countries in a cycle of debt where those countries' national governments often pay 50% or more of their annual revenue on debt servicing, which diverts government spending away from schools, hospitals, roads etc.
In these circumstances, China looks like the better alternative.
But I do expect the US and combined West to neuter China's geopolitical rise, and keep China as a middle income factory for generations to come, before China can ever replace the West as global hegemon.

>>511370815
she looks like she enjoys it

>>511367146 (OP)
>better
Chinese use propylene glycol or child urine to stretch their soup broth for sale, because potable water is too expensive.
>not better

oh look, a thread of marxist niggers who think rome and post-revolution britain are the same thing. neck yourselves immediately.

>>511371516
kys cucks

>>511371516

>>511371516
>>511371516

>>511367146 (OP)
what's chinese soft power?
chinese culture is not considered cool even in asia

Americans think they have an empire

>>511372308
We really do.
It's not a classical empire where we claim territories, but we perform the main function of any empire, which is to control the foreign and internal policy of weaker countries that are under our control.
What else would you call this except an empire, specifically an informal and hidden empire?

>>511371874
The good will they generate through Belt and Road infrastructure projects.
Yes, to have a shot at becoming a true, full fledged empire, even the global metropole, China needs a culture that appeals broadly across the world, and China doesn't have this yet.
The West had it with Enlightenment values of universalism, human rights, fair trials, humanitarian aid, and of course famous art and music and, later on, cinema.
China needs to work on its cultural appeal. It won't ever have the West's easygoing values, as it is and always has been highly authoritarian, but it can, maybe, create great video games and movies to entice audiences outside of China and the its vicinity in East Asia.