New Research Suggests Nations will Eclipse United States by 2050
A new study, published in the International Studies Review, shows how China may surpass the United States by mid-century to become the world’s superpower, dominating the international economic system. It also indicates that India could join China as a superpower by the end of the century.
The study asserts that the rise of China and India is dependent on the political capacity of their governments to implement effective policies that have an impact on controlling population size, and implementing economic reform. By using political capacity to lower birth and death rates, these emerging superpowers, through the sheer size of their respective populations and coupled with increasing access to education and technology, may become contenders for international dominance even before reaching the income per capita levels of the developed nations of today.
The study also draws attention to the potential for a violent challenge to the international status quo on the part of China. “While war is not inevitable, China’s satisfaction with the international status quo can by no means be assumed,” notes Siddharth Swaminathan and Tad Kugler of the La Sierra University School of Business, co-authors of the study.
A key foreign policy goal for the United States should be to insure that China joins the coalition of “satisfied” nations currently led by the U.S. and including the E.U. countries and Japan.
