Who's the next world superpower?
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When a man-made supervirus gives the world's population an insatiable craving for backbacon, Canada will truly hold ALL the cards.
...but seriously. China will truly come onto the world stage sometime soon, but I'm not sure it'll be the same China we know today. The more prosperous and informed its citizens become- and they're not going to be able to maintain their information lockdown on every last one of their citizens forever- the more they will want to know freedom.
...but seriously. China will truly come onto the world stage sometime soon, but I'm not sure it'll be the same China we know today. The more prosperous and informed its citizens become- and they're not going to be able to maintain their information lockdown on every last one of their citizens forever- the more they will want to know freedom.
I'd like to say India and China, but I'm afraid China will be the next and last world superpower. They are set to pass the USA as the world's largest manufacturing economy this year or next, and that's what really counts in power, not how many times you sell each other services or things manufactured in other countries.
Hey, Israel is in the perfect position to become a world superpower. Their military is ridiculously good (History Channel just told me about the 2 damaged Israeli tanks that fought off 160 Lebanese(?) tanks, and killed like 60 or 80 of 'em. I assume they're still as good.)snowplow post=18.73207.787617 said:
Seriously, would anyone miss Syria, Jordan, or Lebanon if they were gone? Maybe some would be a little bitter about Lebanon, but whatever. I only say that 'cause I have a friend from there. But once they take over those countries, Israel can go on to Egypt, Iraq, etc. Once the middle-east is down, use your imagination. All we need is some more Jews in the world to populate all these countries and be in the military. That's the only thing stopping them, a lack of Jews. That'll change soon, though. You wait and see.
Can you imagine a Chinese draft though?black lincon post=18.73207.788017 said:
Besides, an American draft would be motivated by patriotism, which, while good, has its drawbacks. Think of all the conscientious objectors and the such around Vietnam.
China is motivated by force and ideology, much more effective than patriotism. I once read about a dam that hard to be constructed outside a major Chinese city (around the mid-70's I think?). Due to a lack of builders, the local party representatives 'asked' that every day, after work, every citizen would go and spend 1 hour digging the damn.
With their bare hands.
The dam was finished 2 weeks later.
Onto other possibilities:
India: is economically on the rise, but they have a lot of corruption, poverty, and Pakistan to deal with before they go anywhere.
Unified Korean Coalition: This one is so unlikely but a friend of mine once talked about it. It's never going to happen but it's an interesting concept, the army and manpower of the North, the technology and economy of the South.
Russia: is re-emerging, but still has a way to go, although its recent saber rattlings are evidence of a desire to get back there. The economy is going well, and the amount of millionaires is testament to that. The amount of propaganda surrounding Putin is as amazing as the official conduct during the elections. However, parts of the military are under-equipped or suffer from lack of discipline/poor moral.
What would really take the cake is a Sino-Russian alliance, watch out for that one.
Note:
It's gunna happen sooner or later, and the UN is more or less uselessCOR 2000 post=18.73207.787491 said:
From what I've heard, the next superpowers are gonna be BRIC [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIC] nations: Brazil, Russia, India and China. I don't think one nation has the strength to become sole super power, but you've got the agricultural power of Brazil (they are a big provider of bio-fuels and ethanol, as well as regular agriculture), the resources of Russia (all that land will most likely hold the last remnants of mineral and natural reserves, eg. gold and oil), the manufacturing and economic power of China, and the technological and manufacturing power of India. Obviously, all the nations fall in one regard or another, but their combined strength will probably result in some sort of superpower.
I'm not sure what you are getting at, could you elaborate please?BaronAsh post=18.73207.788393 said:
I'm not sure, but I think the Syrians, the Jordanians and the Lebanese, might have something to say about that.ElephantGuts post=18.73207.788323 said:
Oh I will wait and see, bring it bi-hatch!ElephantGuts post=18.73207.788323 said:
*slaps chest in a macho manner*
Assuming most of the war takes place on land though, if they throw hundreds of thousands of troops in every direction it won't matter who has the better technology. Look at what Russia did in World War II, they lost a ton of troops, but they could fill the spots no problem.black lincon post=18.73207.788017 said:
Everyone knows it's going to be China next, followed by India. Russia right now is just an old dog barking to show that it's still tough.
I like the idea of a Sino-Russian alliance, hell they even do joint operations together. The one that comes to mind was the joint amphibious invasion excersice soemthing like 4,5 years ago?
Though its not likely, if anything I can see another sino-russian war in the next 30 years, as China looks to siberia for raw resources and growth room. Kinda like germany of the early 20th century.
Though its not likely, if anything I can see another sino-russian war in the next 30 years, as China looks to siberia for raw resources and growth room. Kinda like germany of the early 20th century.
i know this is obscure but Russia did the same thing in world war one and kinda got their asses handed to them on a silver platter. all because they had less machine guns than the Germans.Shivari post=18.73207.788488 said:
Not China. It gets its glory in the Olympics only for us to find out it was hiding the milk scandal the whole time. Stop poluting our kids toys and food!
I'd say Russia because no one knows what they do with their army. Putin actually said that what they seem like they're doing with their arms isn't actually what they're doing.
NEWSFLASH! Putin is not the president. Dear McCain, LOOK IT UP. He is also not the president of Germany.
If WW3 comes about. Russia joins up with China. Britain stays the hell away from the war. Canada goes in only to have another electon to get out. USA is left mostly alone.
I'd say Russia because no one knows what they do with their army. Putin actually said that what they seem like they're doing with their arms isn't actually what they're doing.
NEWSFLASH! Putin is not the president. Dear McCain, LOOK IT UP. He is also not the president of Germany.
If WW3 comes about. Russia joins up with China. Britain stays the hell away from the war. Canada goes in only to have another electon to get out. USA is left mostly alone.
Canadian here. I'm writing this for my own benefit. The following is based on things I've read, studied, or remember hearing and a good splash of gut-feeling.
Militarily, the US will be *the* superpower for quite a while. Seriously, look at spending, technology, equipment numbers... Google "military spending" and you'll see just how far ahead the US is. You'll also notice that although China and Russia are a very distant 2nd and 3rd, many US allies are right there too. The US machine isn't just the US. It's the fact that it's allies with the UK, Australia, Japan, much of continental Europe, and other key-players like South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel. Like it or not, there are a ton of nations and peoples who basically agree with the US ideologically and are not just fair-weather friends.
Economically, China already is a superpower. They have more money than they can spend. The problem is that their version of communism isn't communism. It's a capitalist dictatorship. There are people on the coastal cities making a million dollars a day, and 500 million people making 2 dollars a day. There's corruption everywhere, pollution everywhere. And no one has any say in it. I can't see the current economic growth continuing without a massive political shift or the country splitting apart. Hell, we Canadians are all fat and comfy and we can barely keep our fucking country together.
Russia will always be almost there. It seems like there's always going to be at least one thing that holds them back from getting to the top. They've been muscling around lately, but it's just to remind the world that they still exist.
India's a dark horse. Similar to China in some ways, waaaaay different in others. A billion people, massive difference between depressing poverty and huge wealth, lots of social issues. But it's a democracy. That doesn't solve everything, but it should help keep the place from imploding. One interesting thing I read a while ago was the big difference in potential between India and China is the type of workers that are most common. China has a lot of manufacturing an labourers, but much of it is borrowed. India has a booming, knowledge-based economy. There are some who feel that China will peak too soon while India will chug along. I'm not too sure of this arguement because I haven't looked at it much.
To sum-up: Next superpower? China, if things don't go wrong for it. India, if everything goes right for it.
Militarily, the US will be *the* superpower for quite a while. Seriously, look at spending, technology, equipment numbers... Google "military spending" and you'll see just how far ahead the US is. You'll also notice that although China and Russia are a very distant 2nd and 3rd, many US allies are right there too. The US machine isn't just the US. It's the fact that it's allies with the UK, Australia, Japan, much of continental Europe, and other key-players like South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel. Like it or not, there are a ton of nations and peoples who basically agree with the US ideologically and are not just fair-weather friends.
Economically, China already is a superpower. They have more money than they can spend. The problem is that their version of communism isn't communism. It's a capitalist dictatorship. There are people on the coastal cities making a million dollars a day, and 500 million people making 2 dollars a day. There's corruption everywhere, pollution everywhere. And no one has any say in it. I can't see the current economic growth continuing without a massive political shift or the country splitting apart. Hell, we Canadians are all fat and comfy and we can barely keep our fucking country together.
Russia will always be almost there. It seems like there's always going to be at least one thing that holds them back from getting to the top. They've been muscling around lately, but it's just to remind the world that they still exist.
India's a dark horse. Similar to China in some ways, waaaaay different in others. A billion people, massive difference between depressing poverty and huge wealth, lots of social issues. But it's a democracy. That doesn't solve everything, but it should help keep the place from imploding. One interesting thing I read a while ago was the big difference in potential between India and China is the type of workers that are most common. China has a lot of manufacturing an labourers, but much of it is borrowed. India has a booming, knowledge-based economy. There are some who feel that China will peak too soon while India will chug along. I'm not too sure of this arguement because I haven't looked at it much.
To sum-up: Next superpower? China, if things don't go wrong for it. India, if everything goes right for it.
Actually, Russia, while not top dog, still has quite a bit of military standing. They may not have the best military overall, but, you know, having the largest stockpile of WMDs ensuring some sort of military standing. Also, they have some of the largest troop numbers (many of which aren't peasants/farmers), and have the ability to manufacture large amounts of arms locally.Shivari post=18.73207.788488 said:
Also, while Russia may not be the strongest in military comparisons, they have the largest reserves of resources. Russia has the world's greatest reserves of mineral and energy resources, and is considered an energy superpower. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.
That large amount of reserves means they have a lot of sway in the near future. If they control mineral and energy reserves, that means they can dictate terms and such when other countries start running out of resources, especially powerful when they'll have one of the last major reserves of oil. It's made even more potent when you factor in the water reserves; with the increasing sea level, more and more fresh water is becoming unfit for human consumption, and if Russia has major reserves of fresh water, they can (and will) barter that for a top position in world affairs.
I'm still rooting for the BRIC nations, because that means each nation rules in its own sector.
All because they didn't have machine guns? Are you serious? The Russian Revolution and the growing resentment towards the war in Russia led to them pulling out. With the government completely reshaping and the party that took control very against the war, of course they got out. They lost a ton of troops, but they lost a ton in WWII also, they had plenty more.black lincon post=18.73207.788527 said:
Also the Russians had about 2 more machine guns per battalion on average than the Germans. So either way, your point is wrong.