"The US vision was enunciated during World War I, institutionalized duringWorld War II, and crowned after the Cold War."

Is the twentieth century the,American century", as Henry Luce suggested in a seminal 1941 Life-essay? Based on a host of new master narratives on the major trajectories of twentieth century history, this essay analyses the ma jor turning points of the convergence of two major phenomena - the decline of European hegemony in the world arena and the rise of the United States t o sole superpower status at century's end. The ascendancy of American polit ical and economic predominance prior to World War I, its retreat to isolati onism, and its replacing British hegemony after World War II are traced in detail. Also, the aggressive and successful export of American popular cult ure and consumer habits, along with the corresponding anti-American, anti-i mperialist critiques since the 1920s, are of crucial importance to understa nd the labeling of the twentieth century as the,American century".