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Originally Posted by Phanuthier
I really don't think the USA holds a economic dominance over the rest of the world. They are one of the biggest and influential, but not an overpowering grip. You certainly can't discount the amount of potential in China/India has and where the by-product of improved education the previous decade will take them in the following decade. While we did have this impeding doom in the 1980's, China has really upped their social infrastructure the past decade (India is still a bit farther behind).
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I would agree with this, but America still have a pretty powerful level in terms of trade. When you run significant trade deficits with countries like China, it can be used for a similar type of leverage to China owning U.S. debt.
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Originally Posted by Phanuthier
Military... I don't know why thats being brought up so much. Historically used as a sign of strength, but its not like we're going into a nuclear war with China here. That sort of thinking seems a little... arcane and old to me.
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When you control the sea for example its something that does have to be taken into account. China is not in a terrific strategic situation based on both historic enemies and their lack of ability to project power.
Military will always need to be taken into account because we do live in a violent nasty war.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phanuthier
Culturally... I don't know why that matters.
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Frankly it does matter because it dictates how China interacts and negotiates with other countries.