The United States has been seen as a superpower for a while now—but not for long. Several scholars claim that the rise of economic power and population growth in Asia (Asia mostly meaning China, but also including India and Japan) will soon turn into domination of the world market.
According to the article, “The Asian Century”, written by Doug Bandow, “China has started from a low economic and military base and faces enormous social challenges as it develops, but is not inclined to passively accept U.S. hegemony along its border or elsewhere.” Bandow also claims that the threat of Asian dominance is not against U.S. security. He also points out that many countries do not need rely on America for anything and that the United States should learn how to cooperatively work with the rising Asian powers. “No one especially America and China, can afford one, let alone two, wars to establish future their relationship”, writes Bandow. According to Jeffrey D. Sachs, in his Fortune Magazine article “Welcome to the Asian Century”, “American power rests mainly on advanced technology, which is increasingly available to the whole world.” Based on the population growth and income increase in China and India, Sachs believes that the world’s economic center of gravity will shift to Asia by 2050. He also believes that economically speaking, the Asian Century will benefit the United States. To Sachs, Asian products at cheap prices and Asian technology will improve the American quality of life. However, politically speaking, America will have to step back from the spotlight and relinquish its power to the Asian countries.
With China’s exponential population growth comes the problem of energy. What will the Asian Century mean to the Environmental/Energy Challenge? According to David Zweig and Bi Jianhai, “An unprecedented need for resources is now driving China’s foreign policy.” China’s share of the consumption of aluminum, copper, nickel, and iron ore has more than doubled in the past 10 years. According to the director for the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, Justin Yifu Lin, China’s economy could grow at a rate of 9 percent per year for the next two decades. With the world already climbing the energy usage charts and depleting so many of our un-renewable resources, how will China’s appetite and need for energy be satiated?
What will the Asian Century mean to Americans? Will the world stop wanting the “American Dream”? According to Jeffrey Sachs, “Assuming Asia’s continued economic success, the 21st century could well be a period of unprecedented prosperity and scientific advance, but one in which the U.S. will have to learn to be one of many successful economies rather than the world’s indispensable country.”
Could we survive that?
I'm not sure which is the more difficult challenge: the U.S. acceptance of a new global role, or China's need to feed, clothe and supply energy to a huge and growing population based on the U.S.'s standard of living.
ReplyDelete