Has the next great world power yet to be formed?

It was formed in 1949, but it has only been 30 years since it has allowed a form of capitalism to flourish on its shores. It is investing massively in cheap computer chips, in automobile manufacturing, computer technology and alternative energy. It had an 8% growth rate in GDP during the “worldwide” recession, and it owns the single largest tranche of US debt.

There is a power forming with the aid of the internet. People are connecting worldwide by experiences and life focuses. People are coming together and forming little communities of shared vision and lifestyle, crossing oceans to do it, pooling resources and expanding.

That is all internal. No one knows for sure what their books look like. This is a classic communist trick. No one knows what happens inside China. Much like the Soviets in the 80’s. All reports said they were stable and strong then, BLAM. Bye-Bye reds.

No one knows China’s real GDP.

Lull yourself to sleep with that, pal. If I were you I’d be studying Mandarin.

Furthermore, the world doesn’t want china to be the world leader. Their own people don’t have many rights enjoyed by many people in the world. They are still totalitarians regardless of their three piece suits. Do you want China to broker peace talks in the middle east? They have no experience in those matters. Communist countries are isolationist. They have little sympathy for the woes of the down trodden in the 3rd world.

You watch too much Fox News dpworkin.

I have never watched Fox News in my life.

Well you’re half way home.

@Fausnaught: you’re arguing with someone who isn’t here.
How about if you go talk some more with whoever told you China’s on the way up?

If you want to simplify it down, you can look at it like this:

* Who has the biggest and best guns, and the best ability to use them?

That’s determined by:

* Who has the most productive economy and greatest access to resources?

Part of the reason the US has remained dominant so long is because they were able to leverage their gun-power into access to oil and bootstrap their way to further further production and military might. Part of the big push across the board to switch energy sources is because this strategy isn’t working out in the long-term, and part of the reason China is becoming so powerful is because they’re willing to abuse the environment by using coal power (ironically supplied by the US, for the most part), which is extremely cheap but extremely dirty.

In the long term, the US, China, and Russia will remain major powers so long as they have so much land and resources to take advantage of, and the ability to do so effectively. And the US is likely to remain a major player despite the horrific economic decisions recently just because the military is so scary-effective, so long as the international community doesn’t try to do something about it.

@elenuial One of the reasons the US has had a lot of world power since WWII is that we treated our defeated enemies with some kind of good sense and allowed them to recover and become trading partners, to everyone’s benefit. Unfortunately, the Bush years undid a good deal of the goodwill that built up. It’s going to take a long time to rebuild. A shame, and a danger.

@susanc The Bush years did a lot of damage to a lot. Ugh.

The era of World Powers has already passed. At least as far as this planet is concerned. It is just that it is not widely known enough yet.

The next “world” power will be just that – The World empowered.

@lloydbird I certainly hope you’re right. All the guns and bombs being produced seem to imply otherwise, however—and, as I recall, they felt the same way in the late 60s.

The only thin holding the US up is the fact that a lot of oil is traded in US dollars and the national debt hasn’t completely destroyed we built up by starting, financing and arming the Great World War. America stopped being number one back in the nineties. China’s number one simply by size, manpower, and how much of our asses they own.

@elenuial ”All the guns and bombs being produced seem to imply otherwise,..”
Merely residual. The back end of the old industries.
Profitable peace is peeking over the horizon.
@Neizvestnaya can see it.

war isn’t about what you have, it’s about how fast can you get it the furthest. That is what makes a modern army. we get there before the enemy and faster than anyone else. It’s called strike speed and the USA is decades ahead.

The new world power is definitely already here, but it isn’t a country. It is a group of individuals from a variety of countries. The general idea is that there will be one world bank, with the euro being the only currency. It isn’t who has the biggest guns that wins a war. It’s who supplied the countries with the weapons. Often,the seller is selling to both sides. The soliders are pawns, but so are the ones who are determined to buy these weapons. The people who end up with the money are the ultimate winners. If you want to know who your real leaders are, follow the money trail.

The Jews? The Illuminati? The Tri-Lateral Commission?

Nope! The Bilderberg group.

Oh, yeah, Walter Bedell Smith. Well, he worked for Dwight D. Eisenhower, our first Communist president.

I didn’t realize just how far down this road we had gone, until a year ago. It is way too late to do anything about it now. I have neither the contacts, nor the money, to do jack. It does have a built-in saving grace, though. Since I am one of the “lucky” ones who will have to rely on government healthcare, the odds are reeeeeally high that I will go undiagnosed with some form of cancer, and will die an early death because I can’t afford the health screenings that are specifically not included in the current version of the healthcare reform bill. What a great way to thin the herd. I never would have thought of that.

The new world power in 2040 will be the one leading in green technologies.

The great world power, if it does come will not be a country but a corporation. The English almost had it with the East India Company. They owned and operated the King George. The American revolution was more against an international corporation than again Britain. If the corporatist keep pushing with the WTO NAFTA and other international organizations, there will be another revolution against them.