How the US Succeeded While Argentina became the Superpower that Never Was

A fascinating article that explores the policies and choices that allowed the US to emerge as the World's only Superpower when Argentina had many of the same opportunities. The author emphasizes that this wasn't a question of fate but of choice(s) - and that the leadership that the US has achieved is by no means certain in the future (FT via Paul Kedrosky) :

All in all, it would be wise to keep betting on the US finding the right way out of the financial crisis and Argentina continuing to harm itself. Of the two great hopes of the western ­hemisphere in the late 19th century, one succeeded and the other stalled in the 20th. It was history and choice, not fate, that determined which became which. It is history and choice that will determine which is which in a century’s time.