If you look at the demographic developments, the economic growth rate and the strides towards industrialisation, Russia was basically doing what the USA had already done, but with some delay, having started later. (Note that the pre-war US military was also a shoddy, under-funded mess that couldn't even quite adequately deal with Mexican banditry, and then note how rapidly that changed once a good reason presented itself.)
Russia also had the benefit of the copy-cat in this regard, i.e. it didn't have to invent the wheel, so its development was actually going faster because of that. If you extrapolate, the USA and Russia were going to be peers by 1940 or so, in a no-world-war-and-no-commies scenario. Meanwhile, the decline of the older great powers would be correspondingly more gradual, but still inexorable. Their day was dwindling towards sunset even before that fateful gunhot in Sarajevo.
There's a reason the Germans were so very eager to fight Russia in 1914. They knew that if the war was delayed by any truly substantial period, the evident development of Russia would render German victory in the contest practically impossible. (And then Hitler got a second shot at it, because Russia inflicted communism upon itself, and still managed to bungle it.)
P.S. --
As a point of order, I must note that interrogative tone is for soy-sippers. Avoid it at all costs.