4 ms·

Is that unusual for a superpower? For example, the US government is fighting wars in the Middle East, the aforementioned trade war, internal conflicts between

by fwip 7y ago

Is that unusual for a superpower? For example, the US government is fighting wars in the Middle East, the aforementioned trade war, internal conflicts between the increasingly radicalized left&right, and to say there's political conflict is a bit of an understatement.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> Is that unusual for a superpower? China is a regional power, not a superpower. (Its long-range force projection capabilities are limited.) China’s battles are all closer to home and more existential than America’s. (At least right now.) There is also the policy entrenchment that comes with Xi being a dictator.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  There's roughly three levels of "superpower" as I see it 1) You can do what you want in your region and mostly tell the rest of the world to shove it (e.g. Monroe doctrine, annexation of Crimea, etc.) 2) You can do what you want worldwide but can't do it without consent of the local superpowers (e.g. The British getting tacit US permission to whack Argentina in the 80s) 3) You can do whatever the heck you want, where you want and it's up to everyone else to deal. (e.g. the USSR starting the Cuban missile crisis, the US invading Iraq). China is a 1 right now but all the pieces are there for them to jump to a 2 or 3 quickly. They aren't lacking manpower, money, internal political cohesion or tech. They just need to practice and get good and they could be a 2 or 3. Obviously this has a lot of people in the west worried because we haven't had to deal an authoritarian regime that was a superpower on the world stage since the USSR fell apart.
- trickstra 7y ago
  What's your definition of superpower that it doesn't apply to all three out of USA, Russia and China? China is very much a superpower, just look at the "Made in ..." labels on the things you are using.

4 ms·

Is that unusual for a superpower? For example, the US government is fighting wars in the Middle East, the aforementioned trade war, internal conflicts between

by fwip 7y ago

JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> Is that unusual for a superpower? China is a regional power, not a superpower. (Its long-range force projection capabilities are limited.) China’s battles are all closer to home and more existential than America’s. (At least right now.) There is also the policy entrenchment that comes with Xi being a dictator.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  There's roughly three levels of "superpower" as I see it 1) You can do what you want in your region and mostly tell the rest of the world to shove it (e.g. Monroe doctrine, annexation of Crimea, etc.) 2) You can do what you want worldwide but can't do it without consent of the local superpowers (e.g. The British getting tacit US permission to whack Argentina in the 80s) 3) You can do whatever the heck you want, where you want and it's up to everyone else to deal. (e.g. the USSR starting the Cuban missile crisis, the US invading Iraq). China is a 1 right now but all the pieces are there for them to jump to a 2 or 3 quickly. They aren't lacking manpower, money, internal political cohesion or tech. They just need to practice and get good and they could be a 2 or 3. Obviously this has a lot of people in the west worried because we haven't had to deal an authoritarian regime that was a superpower on the world stage since the USSR fell apart.
- trickstra 7y ago
  What's your definition of superpower that it doesn't apply to all three out of USA, Russia and China? China is very much a superpower, just look at the "Made in ..." labels on the things you are using.