History is littered with conquerors and despots who have briefly come to power and ruled portions of the planet, but three great empires became the cornerstone of the world as we know it today.
The first of these was the Roman empire. It conquered most of what was the then known world with a military discipline still admired by today's generals. It was a great society that bestowed law and order where it had previously been unknown.
The second was the foray of the Spanish conquistadors - who gained control of all of South America up into areas of Texas, plus Cuba and the Philippines. During their control period in the mid second millennium they enforced two unifying components on their subjects - the Spanish language - and the Catholic religion.
The third great regime was the British empire. This insignificant little European country managed to colonise a greater part of the world - and established English as the language of world commerce, eclipsing French as a competitor.
The British empire began to fray at the end of the second world war, leading to rivalry between the Americans and the Russians. Russia adopted the strategy of " invade and conquer ". The Americans - with their Marshall plan - rebuilt Japan and a ravaged Europe. Towards the end of the twentieth century the power of both waned.
Now a new mix is bubbling away. We have two new super powers - China and India about to break into commerce with their huge populations, and Islam - long dormant - is on the rise and seems intent on holy war.
The one inescapable fact is that change is constant. Nothing remains the same forever and a new order will emerge as we watch - and wait.
What that new order will be is any one's guess - but it will be recorded in the history books as this twenty-first century finally draws to a close.
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