[Loser]

To start with, I agree with Erax, but I also think we're doing fine. There will always be noise, and usually it will come from expected places.

Originally posted by Alpha Kodiak:
Who knows, maybe the French would own the place.

This is improbable for many reasons. Some of which would come off like flames, so I'd best watch myself.

Most importantly, though, the Last chance the French had at regional domination was under Napoleon during the birth of modern nationalism. Unfortunately Napoleon, like Alexander and Hitler, did not have that so-necessary skill of empire-building: restraint. Take-and-hold or take-and-take-and-lose-and-lose-and-lose. Few warlords have both the patience necessary to do this and the initiative to take over the world, though. Genghis Khan had it, who else?