Germany in 1800s vs US and A of today

Historical analogies are always enjoyable because as they say, "History always repeats itself." After checking out the Andrew Sullivan quote from below I ran into this interesting email of the day on his blog.

"The new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, was cool to this approach and thought it limited Germany's freedom of action in things like colonial policy. So, with the departure of Bismarck, Germany, now clearly the dominant economy in Europe, set out to make its way outside the nuanced collective security system. It let lapse the Reinsurance Treaty which set in motion a dynamic which eventually resulted in an alliance between France and Russia clearly aimed at Germany. France began a long term effort to establish an entente with Britain, up to now its chief rival. Germany, seeking to project its power overseas, began to build a major navy, finally pushing Britain, on the eve of the Great War, to an understanding with France and Russia.
The irony was that Germany, in trying to assert itself more forcefully, now found itself isolated, surrounded by the other powers, and less secure than ever.
Any resemblance to current events is purely coincidental."