How long will the American Empire last?

I suspect that the USA will last quite a long time

I wouldn't characterize the USA as an empire, though, as it lacks an emperor or empress.

Hundreds of years.

I don't believe the US is an empire. There is a western, "democratic", capitalist empire that had it's origins in Rome/Greece and eventually with the British Empire, Magna Carta and industrial revolution. The US is just part of that development. The US has 300 million citizens, that's the only way they have power, because they have a huge market and millions of taxpayers. Basically, places like Australia and New Zealand and to a lesser extent South Africa all resemble the US although they developed independantly of the US and under very different circumstances. This shows that the current way of life of the US has it's origins in Europe. If Anything, it's a European Empire because all of these places are where Europeans live, or moved to. It's a Western Empire. Even the Islamic world acknowledges this.

I wouldn't class America as an Empire in the true sense. But I suspect they will last a good while longer. I predict a natural disaster and Americans swarming the planet as lost, but fairly resillient immigrants forever longing for their homeland. They will be slimmer because of it.

It's already fading but still very powerful, it can still cause damage, and will be a power for several decades to come.

Never the U.S. is not really an empire.

The USA isn't an empire-literally speaking. But even in the way you describe it, it isn't. We can't achieve anything we want. We've tried this before because we and the rest of the world thought this, and we were proven wrong. The USA definitely isn't an empire as you speak of it.

I don't think the US is really an empire, whatever else it may be. I do think the country is bound eventually to fall, as all do, although something similar or better often rises in its place. I have no idea how soon that might be--the US is still fairly young as a country.

100 years or so.

I don't think that the US is an empire.

Who knows, with George W being what he is!

Although I tend to agree with the premise to some extent, I'm not sure that I would call it the "American Empire". The term suggests that the dynamic involved is primarily a nationalist one. I don't really buy that. I'd say that in the past 50 years or so, the power structure has moved away from nation states in the direction of control by corporations and organised crime (which are virtually indistinguishable). The US is of course a factor in all this. It is their foreign policy, military, economic might etc. that provides much of the impetus. I just think that by calling it the "American Empire", it lends credence to the idea that they have a legitimate government, or that nationhood is even a viable factor in the contemporary political scene.

All it will take to end this present circumstance is for people to wake up one day and realise "Hey! Just a second, we're being fudgeed over!" That isn't going to happen until people stop being complacent and believing the propaganda. There are far more of us than there are of them. We could easily wrest control. It might happen in five years or five hundred years, but it will happen...

Wel... if you want to call it an Empire... sure... anyway, I don't know, but thing that intrigues me that one day when it falls (c'mon, all great 'empires' came to an end, Classic Greece, Rone, China, Egypt), who'll take their place?

According to Jack Osbourne...within the next 50 years...the U.S. will become non- existent. I always believe Jack Osbourne.

The "American Empire" is past its prime. There have been many plans and many opportunities to make this country a model of love, righteousness, and political success. We're not there yet, for sure. And sadly, we're going the wrong way. Our "democracy" is a joke, our president is a fool, we have people killing each other left and right. And we're about to go to war for political and monetary gain. So, no, this empire is going nowhere.
But life is not just tragedy and stupidity, there is a beautiful side to it as well. The media makes a big deal of the terrorists and the murderers and the hate...why? Because it sells papers, it increases ratings. People have a morbid fascination with the bad things in the world. So we focus on them...and don't see the love that is around us. We hear about the teen pregnancy and the high divorce rates, but we seem to ignore the happy, kind, well adjusted families in the world. There are plenty, really.
Empires come and go, government and politics are meaningless. They are thrown about like grains of sand in the sea of time. Change is the only constant. We can focus on politics and worry about corruption. Or we can try to love our families and neighbors, and learn to be a better person.
There may be hate in the world, but there is love too...lots of it. Life is about choice, what's yours?

I think it's fading already. Next question is 'can the western int'l business empire survive without it.' Existing models have deteriorated and become obsolete. A new vision is required. The pioneer spirit has given way to replicating existing niches. The guiding principles of folks like Jefferson and Franklin have been forgotten and ignored.
Then there's the question of how long the current physical world will last in the face of quickly developing nanotechnology which could turn physical reality into virtual reality.
We need to build on behalf of us, and not just find trivial new ways of filling telemarketing cubicles to pass our isolated years.

That's something I wouldn't expect to hear from you of all people. Now, I'm beginning to think those who accused you of being propogandised are correct. The US is not much different from the USSR a couple decades ago or Rome in the fourth century. It balances on a precarious inflation and the only thing holding it together is collective faith that it's intangible wealth is working to all's advantage. It would only take spreading a thought through the nation, like the stockmarket crash of 29 to collapse the system. At the moment, such things can be repaired by controlling the media, but what if we ever collectively stopped believing that a repair on tv was a repair in the physical realm? At least in the 30's, we would have survived even if we resorted to barter of food and shelter related commodities. Our economy/enterprise is too virtual for that now. Most jobs exist solely for money's sake these days, created out of thin air like the money itself. There is no gold standard. The FDIC was nothing but a collective faith, we will believe it works, even when it does not, and now it's all or nothing. The democratic roots of our nation have diminished. Do you expect the population to trust the oligarchy in the face of trouble? Already int'l business has abandoned the nation ship with foreign resources inc. employment. The only thing holding them together here is a top level admin that conveniently can collaborate US currency with int'l currency. Even a movement for 3rd world countries to default as a whole would wipe out our system to the extent that the populace is tied into the global economy. What's to stop us from economically being the next mao china if faith in our economy fails? I doubt there are contigency plans for such an event. People would get suspicious if everyone were placed on welfare in the meantime.

I suspect that there is major global economic collapse in the future, sure. I just suspect that it will be fairly well distributed throughout the world and won't result in the fall of Rome. :).

Consider that the "British Empire" has lasted over 900 years so far... it isn't quite the empire it once was, but, alas, it is not fallen either.

The 'Old Kingdom' of Egypt was a single Empire that spanned 2 millenia.

America will be a much different place in 50 years even, however, I don't think a structural collapse of government is in store for at least another 100 years.

The US isn't an empire in the generally accepted meaning of the word, so in that sense it can't "last" at all.

If you change the question to ask how long it will be before the US ceases to be the world's strongest superpower, though, I'd say that it will take between 20 and 100 years. And the superpower that replaces it will be either China or a united Europe. (In fact, a united Europe would be an empire in the true sense of the word, as it will grow by territorial acquisition rather than economic and military influence).

Ah, I can see that (stable distributed collapse).
I think our government is already quickly becoming a token . Our congressional district director said the congressman's support of the war powers act surprised her. The implication is tha representative gov't has already been replaced by fear of treason.

Depends on when Usama and Saddam eventually get together to bomb it.

cant give an exact or even approximate time, but wish the government would fall soon

*waves* Hi!!!!

I give it the rest of the century.

Never

I believe our country will fade with our morals, somewhat like Rome.

Rome fell when the leaders became primarily occupied with making money off the citzens, not unlike is happening now.