The Middle East, India, and China were dominant economically and, one could argue, politically and technologically, for most of history. Perhaps without the Mongol Empire, for example, Europe does not acquire the gunpowder technology as quick as OTL. Without gunpowder, it would be more difficult for Europeans to establish themselves as world maritime powers by seizing fortifications with cannon or using gunpowder, combined with good naval technology, to displace regional maritime powers. Moreover, the Mongols would not be a unifying force that promoted cross-continental trade, thus not incentivizing the Europeans to colonize in the first place. Then if you add in that the new world may not be discovered (at least, not by the Spanish in 1492) and you have an entirely changed global economy, devoid of the great, and in some cases destabilizing, influxes of bullion, as well as the avoidance of the Columbian exchange. The societies of China, the Middle East, and India will not be devastated or stalled to the degree they were IOTL by the Mongols and post-Mongol invasions (Timur, I’m looking at you). All of this only gives time for nations of another place, such as the Middle East or India (both of which had nations and peoples with great mercantile and maritime traditions), to rise to global hegemon status.
Just a thought, and just one example.