New Delhi, July 13 -- America is 250 years old this year. It is tricky to establish a 'nation-state' equivalent of human years, but if I were to hazard a guess, then it would be about one nation-state year for every seven to ten human years.

Broadly similar to the dog-human ageing relationship. Of course, dogs age unevenly with respect to humans, reaching a 'human age' of 24 in their first two years and then slowing down over the next decade plus. By this yardstick, the US today is middle-aged at most.

There is no science behind this nation-state equivalence, only the backing of recorded history: great civilizations of the past often lasted a thousand years, a little more than 10 human lifespans by the aforesaid reckoner.

The Egyptian ...