American Empire (Informal)

The United States has exercised an unprecedented form of global hegemony since 1945, operating 800 military bases in over 70 countries—seven times more than any other nation. Its dominance relies on economic integration and cultural influence rather than formal colonial rule, with the US dollar serving as the global reserve currency for 88% of all foreign exchange transactions. This informal control is cheaper than the typical empire's colonial overhead, costing roughly 3.5% of GDP on defense compared to #9 Russian Empire's peak military spending of 10% during its expansion. Hollywood and Silicon Valley further shape global norms, giving the US a soft power advantage that no other empire on this list has matched.