Important Countries

I think it might be interesting to start a series of topics about specific countries. What are their strengths, weakness, and/or potential. What is good or bad about the country and it's current or future role in the world.

Any countries come to mind that might deserve their own topic?

Netherlands, was a huge world power in 1609-1672

Uhmm, it was? I thought the British pretty much ruled the world around that time. Or maybe it was the French. I admit my knowledge of history isn't very extensive.

@Jakster, in the 17th centrury was the Netherlands as we know it today a united and defined state?

I seem to remember (my history is vague) that the Spanish got into a few spats with Dutch forces around that time.

Yeah that war with Spain lasted 80 years.

The republic I was talking about was called in full The Republic of the Zeven United Netherlands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Republic

....and then they started smoking the weed! Now look at them......

Almost nobody smokes, it's just for tourists

That was a joke! So much for the famous Dutch sense of humour! If you look at the figures Dutch kids smoke way less weed and drink way less booze than either North American or British teenagers.

Hey, if it weren't for the Dutch we wouldn't have Grolsch, Rembrandt or Dirk Kuyt! I, for one, am grateful.

China's definately a rapidly emerging superpower. How about Russia too... a re-emerging superpower of the 21st century. And, of course, how about the United States of Europe?

i seriously doubt the US can maintain its position as a super power ... all things must pass

I thought the U.S. qualified as the only 'hyperpower'..

I'm interested in seeing who the new Japan is going to be. Of course first we have to bomb somebody back into the Stone Age. Iraq anyone?

we might qualify as a hyperpower, I'm not entirely certain that that actually means anything though. The truth is that our current lifestyle is unsustainable. But do we do anything about it? No. this country can't retain supremacy for long. I'm not saying we are doomed, just that someone else is going to become top dog this century, China perhaps.

That's a pretty tricky question zoomer. If we had time, I'd like to say 'all of them'. Just this week, there's been a military coup in Mauritania¹, war between Georgia and Russia, and what looks like the foundations for a pogrom² against the Roma in Italy. Each of them deserve proper study of the countries involved. While Mauritania might be a distant land of no consequence for many in the rest of the world, the other two could both have very real effects on all of us.

But really looking at that many serious issues each week, and developing a proper working knowledge of where they are happening and why, would be a full time job, not an engaging hobby like LPP is meant to be.

So, I guess we can only tackle major, ongoing, issues. The big four emerging nations--the BRIC countries, or Brazil, Russia, India and China--clearly are going to be big issues for years to come.

Drawing on the events in Georgia, I reckon a general thread on the Caucasus and Russia would be interesting, as it will give us an insight into the only one of the four countires that is actively and unashamedly using military force to control and threaten its neighbours. That poses a direct threat to Nato, and a very real risk to everyone in the world.

For China, I'm curious about the real strength of the CP. Since Tiananmen and the takeover of Hong Kong, the party has managed to present itself as the inevitable ruler of a fifth of the world's population. I suspect that, with the rapid changes and growing inequality in the country, its grip is far less tight than many of us assume. Could it fall anytime soon, and if it does, what would replace it?

In India, I wonder what its real economic and military potential is. It's often portrayed as a less remarkable, more stable, runner up to China in growth terms. I think its relatively open society, and increasingly knowledge-based and competive economy, suggest it could starting grow more rapidly. The instabilty of Pakistan though, India's own domestic problems with saffron-robed fascists, and the presence of so many nukes in the region, means that that development is fragile, and could again lead us all into terrifying military confrontation.

I've left Brazil until last, because I know so little about it. The ongoing 'success' of Lula's union-focussed centrism though, and the spread of variably leftist governments across South America, raise the question of whether US-style capitalism has really won the outright victory some Neo-cons would have us believe. Maybe, as Francis Fukuyama has said, it's actually a more European, left wing (by US standards) and in some way socialised version of capitalism that will become the standard in Latin America, and the rest of the developing world. Perhaps, some time soon, the US could find its own survival-of-the-fittest take on freedom undermined by an international consensus of social democracy? For how long would the American boss class accept an ideological challenge like that, without trying to launch a new cold war.

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¹Which has only really been covered in blogs, like this, and barely, if at all, in the MSM.

²Similarly undereported. WSWS might be a bit old left and painfully obvious in its ideological POV, but it has covered it well here. EU Referendum, which I don't know well but guess is from a different background to WSWS, has more recent comment here.

This post has been edited by MichaelKVegfruit: Aug 12 2008, 04:51 AM

Considering the more recent worldwide economic problems I'd like to revisit this thread. Has anything changed?

According to the US National Intelligence Council it has. They say, roughly, that by 2025 the US will no longer be the sole world power and will face a more multilateral environment. While the rising Asian powers of China and India will draw level with the west, the EU will be held back by a 'democracy gap'. Where, 10 years ago, western academics and analysts were predicting 'the end of history' and saying that the whole world would move towards liberal democracy and free markets, the NIC now says that state control of markets will increase, and democracy may be the exception, rather than the rule.

Here's their synopsis of their latest report, 2025 Global Trends: