Not that WWII did the thing in, but the thing was shakin' pretty good for 35 years or so. There "emerged" a lot of socialist countries, Chinese Rev, Korea, Cuba ,Viet Nam and national liberations destroyed the old colonial system. The Empire struck back starting in 1980, and put down or abated most Slave Revolts, as we know, but it hasn't rolled the thing back to 1939, when there was only the SU. The nations of the world have much more political and economic self-determination than then, and , really, a lot more economic "mix" and democracy at what seems like a period of great potential and tendency for swinging Left. Charles