Editing Pax Americana (section)

=== ''Pax Britannica'' heritage ===
{{Main|Pax Britannica}}

From the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1815 until the [[First World War]] in 1914, the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] played the role of [[Offshore balancing|offshore-balancer]] in Europe, where the [[Balance of power in international relations|balance of power]] was the main aim. It was also in this time that the British Empire became the largest empire of all time.  The global superiority of [[British Armed Forces|British military]] and commerce was guaranteed by dominance of a Europe lacking in strong [[nation-state]]s, and the presence of the [[Royal Navy]] on all of the world's oceans and seas. In 1905, the [[Royal Navy]] was superior to any two navies combined in the world. It provided services such as suppression of [[piracy]] and [[slavery]]. 

In this era of peace, though, there were several wars between the major powers: the [[Crimean War]], the [[Second Italian War of Independence|Franco-Austrian War]], the [[Austro-Prussian War]], the [[Franco-Prussian War]], and the [[Russo-Japanese War]], as well as numerous other wars. [[William Wohlforth]] has argued that this period of tranquility, sometimes termed ''[[La Belle Époque]]'', was actually a series of hegemonic states imposing a peaceful order. In Wohlforth's view, ''Pax Britannica'' transitioned to ''[[Pax Russica]]'' and then to ''Pax Germanica'', before ultimately, between 1853 and 1871, ceasing to be a ''Pax'' of any kind.<ref name="Unipolar World 1999 p 39">{{Cite journal| jstor =2539346| title=The Stability of a Unipolar World| last1=Wohlforth| first1=William C.| journal=International Security|year=1999| volume=24| issue=1| pages=5–41| doi=10.1162/016228899560031| s2cid=57568539}} p. 39.</ref>

During the ''Pax Britannica'', America developed close ties with Britain, evolving into what has become known as a "[[Special Relationship|special relationship]]" between the two. The many commonalities shared with the two nations (such as language and history) drew them together as allies. Under the managed transition of the British Empire to the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], members of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]], such as [[Harold Macmillan]], liked to think of [[United Kingdom–United States relations|Britain's relationship with America]] as similar to that of a progenitor [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] to America's [[Ancient Rome|Rome]].<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3581313/Labours-love-in-with-America-is-nothing-new.html Labour's love-in with America is nothing new] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007042000/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3581313/Labours-love-in-with-America-is-nothing-new.html |date=October 7, 2020 }} [[Daily Telegraph]] September 6, 2002</ref> Throughout the years, both have been active in North American, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries. In 1942, [[Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy]] envisaged that the United States may have to supplant the British Empire. Therefore, the United States "must cultivate a mental view toward world settlement after this war which will enable us to impose our own terms, amounting perhaps to a Pax Americana".<ref>Cited in Michio Kaku and David Axelrod, ''To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon Secret War Plans'', Boston: South End Press, 1987, p. 64.</ref>