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There was a strongly held belief that Japan will dwarf the US at one point too. And true, Japan has massively developed but is nowhere near a superpower. Also,

• mytailorisrich 6y ago
  Japan could never have dwarfed the US. Germany could never have dwarfed the US. Barring a catastrophe in the US, you need to look at the numbers: Japan is quite small, most of it land is mountains, it has barely any natural resources, its population is about a third of the US's. There was some hysteria in the 80s but factually with such numbers Japan could never have surpassed the US. In addition to that, because of WWII Japan is basically satellite state of the US, which means it cannot do as it pleases militarily (and even politically). On the other hand, China is larger than the continental US, has plenty of natural resources, and has a population 4x that of the US. It is also, of course, not subjected to US domination. The role are reversed and, as China develops, the numbers indicates that China essentially will dwarf the US. This is really what has dawned on the American government and what explains their actions. They're not panicking yet but they are certainly alarmed (Japan never alarmed anyone in the D.C area since 1945). Even the EU makes the US uneasy because, again, they know that the EU can be bigger than they are.