Fareed Zakaria

Exactly.

When you look historically, do you find that great powers tend to decline mostly because of internal or external forces?

I guess compared to those countries, the U.S.

is still relatively small scale when it comes to foreign invasion, colonialism, etc.

Correct, correct.

How can you best explain why the U.S.

economy has remained so...

dominant and dynamic for such a long time.

There are other countries that invent things.

There are other countries that do very well in some sectors and sometimes export them.

But if you look at them as engines of prosperity for their populations and for shareholders and so on, the U.S.

is really unparalleled.

You talk about selection bias.

Those are people who wanted to be somewhere more than...

the others around them, or found a way to get there.

Last question.

Tell me something, anything, that you, Fareed Zakaria, believed for a long time to be true but realized that you were wrong.

Something important that you changed your mind about.

You are the best political science professor I never had.

I learn so much from you every time, and I really appreciate your taking the time.