Comparing the US (now) to the Ottoman Empire?

In the FT, Via Greg Djerejian, here

"... as in the 1870s the balance of financial power is shifting. Then, the move was from the ancient oriental empires (not only the Ottoman but also the Persian and Chinese) to western Europe. Today the shift is from the US – and other western financial centres – to the autocracies of the Middle East and east Asia..."