I am currently reading a fascinating general history (Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan). After a period where Europe appears to be somewhat of a backwater compared to the Middle East, India and China, the middle ages appear to comprise war and trade across Eurasia - many competing powers, with none consistently on top.
While reading on, at some point you realise that the usual struggles for supremacy between the various cities, kingdoms and empires has been upended. No longer competitors on an equal footing, European powers begin to dominate in an increasingly uneven fashion. Of course we all know how this ended once Europe industrialised, but at what point did European powers get the upper hand on the rest of the world, and by what means was this achieved?
I would put the time period around perhaps late 1600s. And the main reasons being
re-establishing connections with Eurasia (coming about via the Crusades)
wealth from New Worlds in the West,
technical superiority which came about as a product of endless warfare that stretches for centuries (Frankopan had made an interesting and telling remark - Europe never saw a single decade without a major war between 1200s and 1940s)
Constantly fighting with each other yields massive technology boom, as all of the states begin vying for any advantage over their opponents. This true for almost any time period which saw a protracted outbreak of wars. (Eg., China's warring states period).
The first set of Portuguese traders who came to Indian ocean were an extremely disruptive force, and I dont mean disruptive in positive sense. They were quite violent and stirred enough trouble that some Muslim and Hindus of South Indian kingdoms alike jointly declared _jihad_ on them.
Some other factors were also that almost all European states lacked domestic base of resources, and this meant that there was a massive incentive to outright control and own distant realms. (Exercise - check the exhibits on display in the National Museum in Beijing, and the exhibits of the British Museum in London. What's the difference?)
Also, one thing to keep in mind is that even prior to the rise of West Europe, not all societies and empires were on an equal footing. Due to cycles, certain states and cities enjoyed much greater success from their endowments than other places. For eg., Khmer Empire (the progenitor of modern day Cambodia) during the early 1000s AD was a behemoth in the region, and its capital was one of the richest and largest cities in the world. But that changes dramatically as the effect from climate change proved to be too much for its extremely fragile water systems.
So at any point on the timeline some empires are going to be far ahead than others. And to your question, this is true for now as well. We are talking about the time when the West is superior. This will change (and is already beginning to change rapidly).