TheMinister: by that measure you could say that the US will follow the same route to collapse as the Spainish or British Empires... Or at least that lessons can be learned.
I don't think that the US is an exception to the normal rules of how countries grow and wane in power; actually China is probably more exceptional in that sense, having waxed and waned many times... Been invaded and assimulated the invaders; had revolutions and still been China... (though that is hardly unique, imho) But back to the US.
Being a super-power and unhallenged militarily is not unique; Rome was often unchallenged by it's neighbours, until it grew too unweildy to govern... There have been countless local powers who have been unchallenged (due to a lack of force projection among the power elsewhere, when the world was much bigger, and armies couldn't move as far) And there have been several Empire who prohected their power far and wide (compared to others) and established colonies.
Something unique, i think, is the globalized context of the US economy - but that isn't unique to the US it is a global phenomina, a result of trade becoming easier, financial transactions no longer limited to physical goods (like gold and silver) it is now much safer to move capital from one continent to another, like never before...
This fact has made national borders less and less important - and the links between countries more important: whether those are oil pipelines or electricity grids, shipping lanes or trains, people travelling or goods, and vitally information via the internet.
So no, i don't find anything exceptional about the US. (not tonight at any rate)