China. At one time they were the most advanced nation on earth. One reason is they had paper which at the time was the best thing for record keeping, much better than what the Europeans had. China lost the lead when the Europeans started printing books with movable type. Then Europe became the information leader.
But now Europe is swamped with problems including declining European population in some nations, a growing influx of poorly educated Muslims (The USA has poorly educated illegal immigrants too) while China is booming. In fact, China just surpassed Germany as an industrial power. If things keep going, China will be number one in another 20 years or so.
How is that for a come back?
