The satirical history of England, 1066 And All That, explained that history came to a full stop after the first world war, when America overtook England as Top Nation.
The concept of Top Nation was very much on the agenda at a Königswinter conference I attended recently. Guests were preoccupied with the contest between China and the US to become the Top Nation of the 21st century. And yet, as parallel sessions debated the future of the EU, I realised that there was an underlying debate between two different views of the world. For foreign policy experts, America is Top Nation. But, from an economic perspective, perhaps it is Denmark.
In 1066 And All That, Top Nation is defined by its ability to push other people around. The British empire, on which the sun never set and in which Queen Victoria was empress of an India she had never even visited, epitomised Top Nationhood.