If you think the future belongs to China, think again. The US has a large share of the world's most fertile soil.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Global_soils_map_USDA.jpg

Good Soil

Mollisols - Grassland and prairies. 21.5% of the US land area. High fertility. Cheap to farm.
Alfisols - Humid climates. By grass savannas and forest vegetation. High fertility. Cheap to farm. Not as ideal as Mollisols.
Andisols - By volcanoes. High fertility. Cheap to farm until there's an eruption.

So-So Soil

Ultisols - Have decent nutrient retention rates and low fertility. Moderately expensive to farm.

Variable Soil:
Inceptisols - By mountains. Variable productivity and expense.
Entisols - Dry or cold climates. Sand dunes and flood plains. Fertility high and expense low in flood plains.

Bad Soil

Aridsols - Deserts. Low fertility. Expensive to farm.
Spodosols - Cool and wet climates. Low fertility. Expensive to farm.
Oxisols - Tropical and subtropical climates. Low fertility. Expensive to farm.
Gelisols - Permafrost. Enough said.
Histosols - Permafrost
Vertisols - Warm, subhumid or subarid climates. Form by limestone and basalt. Low fertility due to high clay content. Good luck farming it.

http://croptechnology.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1130447032&topicorder=8&maxto=16&minto=1

Now check out the soil distribution around the world.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Global_soils_map_USDA.jpg

As you can see, the US has a lot of highly fertile soil. Aside from the aridsols in some parts of the eastern and central USA, the US is rich in mollisols and has some alfisols. Moreover, the southern USA is rich in moderately fertile ultisols. Furthermore, the US is the most agriculturally productive country in the world and exports the most amount of food, thanks to its high development and technology.

On the other hand. Although China has rich mollisols and ultisols, it also has over a billion mouths to feed. Secondly, China's farmland fertility is suffering from increasing population pressures. Much of the area with China's ultisols is heavily populated, and the northeastern part with mollisols is suffering from severe soil erosion.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/21/china-soil-erosion-population

Moreover, China and India's soil erosion is a lot worse than the US.

Finally, China has a population dilemma. The first problem is that their one child policy has created a population pyramid where the older generation will greatly exceed the younger generation. This will eventually burden the state's resources and rapidly decrease China's production. The second problem China faces is that if it increases its population by removing the 1 child limit, it will stress its agricultural production even more. The dilemma for China is consequently that its economic growth is guaranteed to slow and then rebound.

Meanwhile the United States:

1. Has nearly zero population growth.
2. Is a highly developed and technologically advanced nation.
3. Has a large portion of the most fertile land in the world.
4. US agriculture is the most productive and developed.
5. Although it suffers from soil erosion, it is still far less than the levels experienced in China and India and is reversible.
- http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/march06/soil.erosion.threat.ssl.html

What this shows is that the US faces an opportunity for a new age of prosperity and power, while China and India are facing ruin. Although the levels of soil erosion in the US are not good, there is promise to reverse the trend. But the following would have to occur.

1. The morons in government must stop promoting continuous corn production, with subsidies for high fructose corn syrup, ethanol and livestock etc, as corn is a crop that quickly depletes the soil.
2. The US government must implement policies that both increase agricultural output and do so at sustainable levels.
3. Urban sprawl would have to end and the suburban life exchanged for life in the city. Moreover, a highly concentrated population would make public transportation feasible, which would have the added benefit of decreasing the need for oil. This means having a policy of "Who cares about the housing market? Bulldoze them and build apartments instead."

http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/cropmajor.html

  - Shows how much corn is produced and how little is actually consumed by people. So inefficient when you could grow fruit, vegetables or wheat instead. Moreover, cattle is also inefficient, and reducing meat outputs in favor of wheat and vegetables would reduce health care costs.

With feasible, although painful, reforms to promote agricultural productivity and sustainability, the US could effectively control the largest share of the world's food supply. And with booming population growth around the world, US power over the world would be unprecedented. Not only would the world fear our military power, but few countries would be able to afford a halt to the flow of US food. The lives of billions of people would depend on the US.

However, there are some other considerations that need to be made.

1. Eastern Europe, especially Russia, is rich in mollisols. Russia could consequently become a major competitor to the US. However, Russia is also experiencing a declining population and has poor agricultural productivity. And Russian farmers aren't having an easy time finding investors, mainly because farming profits are currently low and it would be difficult to compete with the US right now. Although Russian agriculture will probably develop in the decades ahead, this gives the US time to become more efficient and form strategic alliances to suppress agricultural development in Russia, or dominate the world with Russia.
2. The land corresponding to Canada's provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are rich in mollisols. This is reflected in the fact that Canada is the second largest exporter of food in the world, next to the US. Of course, this competition can be easily eliminated by simply taking the provinces by force when the US is positioned to do so. It's not like Canada could put up an effective resistance, nor could the UN do anything about it when most of the world depends on US food exports.

Imagine the possibilities. America is uniquely positioned to literally become more powerful than ever while eliminating its rising Indian and Chinese competitors. All the US has to do is correctly move the chess pieces.