Asia is not rising, they are just multiplying.
LOL! Economically, that should be a good thing, as long as they have a free economy at the same time.
Carolyn
"Asia is not rising, they are just multiplying."
I agree, to an extent. The fact is, so far looks like the future is still the United States. Unless we blow it somehow, we should dominate the world for some centuries to come. It is in fact difficult to determine who would eventually be our successor after such a great period of time.
Chinese economic growth is way overblown. China is still a country of massive poverty. In fact, they have deliberately provoked Japan to provide a distraction for their people and an excuse for their totalitarian government (protection against Japan).
I believe they realized that the US was not working as a threat to their people. The idea that the U. S. preventing China from invading Taiwan was a threat to the security of the average Chinese person was a joke---even to the Chinese.
However, as Japan rearms, presumably the Chinese government will be able to stir up some real fear inside China---based on historical reasons---not current reality.
Japanese militarization will create real problems for China---but they had to pay that price to create a credible external enemy. That is because they cannot solve the problems of their society. There is too much poverty.
India has potential, but they would have to undergo some major shifts to really start getting there.
Japan of course, is a different story. In the 70s, Japan scared the crap out of us. They seemed unstoppable, and I haven't forgotten it. Their manufacturing is superb---ours has lots of problems.
But so far, Japan has not quite made it either---in terms of surpassing the US. Japan, remember, has never experienced a democratic shift in power from one party to another. They have had a democracy since 1945 or so---but with only a single party in power.
The Japanese obsession with "face" is a significant problem. It turns out that transparency is vital to capitalism. And transparency and saving face are not compatible.
Nonetheless, this problem could be solved. If it was, Japan could truly challenge the US for worldwide economic supremacy.