The Worst Nation Ever

About 50 years ago it occurred to me that all large dominant nations tended to behave the same way, whether they were Hittites, Rome, China, Great Britain or Russia. That is, they bullied smaller countries, advanced their own interests, tortured prisoners, spied on weaker states, lied to themselves, etc. Each of these empires considered itself exceptional, unique in history. Americans think the USA is exceptional. The Right considers us exceptionally good and the Left, exceptionally bad. That's American exceptionalism--we are probably average as empires go.