Monday, October 13, 2003

*writes*
Of Superpowers and Sucessors to America

I have come to believe that the next superpower on Earth will actually be Communist [Or otherwise] China. If you take a look at the Gross Domestic Product [The total market value of all the goods and services produced within the borders of a nation during a specified period], I think that figures indicate that it quadrupled in the year 2000- moving it up to second to only the United States of America.

Now, China does have alot of problems. It will take a very smart leader to turn it into a superpower- if that comes or not, I cannot judge. But China does have the means to become a superpower- it is obvious just from that great increase in GDP.

One has to realize how Communist China came into being. It started in 1921 in Shanghai. One of the driving factors was Nationalism- China had been under the shadow of Western powers for a long time now, and they felt the need to demonstrate that China could stand on its own- to prove itself.

Russia was their inspiration. Like China, primarily agricultural country with an oppressive imperial system, had been unsuccessful at democratization, and had lived in the shadow of the dominant West. Yet Russia had turned to socialism and had quickly modernized and become a feared world power. The Chinese connected with Lenin’s ideas on the 'evils' of Western imperialism, which further confirmed their belief that socialism could be their best option for a successful government in China. Thus, the Chinese Communist Party was born. Between 1926 and 1949 the Communists under the leadership of Mao Zedong and the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek vied for the upper hand and control of the country and engaged in a bloody civil war in 1945-49, with Mao declaring that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

It turns out that Mao's gurellia tactics and popularity won out over Chiang's military power and unpopularity.

Alright. Alot of things happened from then to now, and I do not want to type all of them out for you. Read it yourself if you want to.

Basically China has, over the last half century- A.) Figured out that the Russian Socialist system cannot work efficently in China, and needed to be tweaked. B.) Survived the Tiananmen Square incident. C.) Have made Socialism evolve for China instead of China evolving for Socialism.

With this said, I cannot be totally sure about this. As early stated, it would be a difficult path.

But there have been stranger things.

Like, 13 North American colonies splitting off from a major world power, surviving a civil war and turning into the largest superpower in the modern world.

I am sure people all over the place were predicting that in the 1780's. ;P

FYI: There are only five communist countries left on Earth. Laos, Vietnam, China, Cuba and North Korea. However, some African Countries border on Anarchy-Communism/Socialism.
Comments (2)