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[Khairan]

Yes, the US let other pay the bill for being in power. smart.

They've become too dependent of late on the power of their military, however. As we can see, they are pouring literally billions of dollars into trying to control the Middle East in efforts that clearly are not working. That's because the U.S. is currently being run by dinosaurs who don't want to accept the fact that the tactics that worked for them in the twentieth century are now obsolete. America can't keep this up, and it's getting nowhere fast. Meanwhile, it's biggest rival is literally doing nothing but expanding its economy, and is just waiting ofr America to exhaust itself.
Heh. History is a funny thing. :blink:

[Dan]

Bismillah


As Salam alaikum


Agree... look at what made the U.S. powerful in the first place. manufactoring first then the military. it was the U.S. ability to mass produce that won the 2nd World War. The german tanks and planes were by far superior to the U.S. but the U.S. could crank them out faster than they could be destroyed. The people of this country know that the backbone of this country was production but greed is too powerful.


Now the U.S. has shipped those jobs off to the very countries who are on the rise to power... India and China. Like Khairan said, all they have to do is sit back and concentrate on trade, let the U.S. burn itself out by trying to do too much with too little.


As Salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu

[arclight]

Meanwhile, it's biggest rival is literally doing nothing but expanding its economy, and is just waiting ofr America to exhaust itself.

So I'm not the only one thinking that?


The way money is flowing into China, but is only trickling out has me worried.

Heh. History is a funny thing. :blink:

Not really. If muslims in the middle east think the US is bad, just wait till they get a load of Communist China :confused_smile:

[Khairan]

So I'm not the only one thinking that?


The way money is flowing into China, but is only trickling out has me worried.


Not really. If muslims in the middle east think the US is bad, just wait till they get a load of Communist China :confused_smile:

Muslims will be fine with Chinese hegemony so long as it doesn't result in war on their lands and blind support of Israel. You might call that short-sighted, and maybe it is, but I think it's the truth of it. Right now, China is already seeking to make allies in the Muslim world. It's working to build relations with Iran at a time when the U.S. is too stupid to see that it no longer has the ability to make the world jump at a command. It should also not be lost on ANY of us that China has done nothing to stop North Korea's political ambitions. Why is it that although China is their neighbor, it is the U.S. that looks bad when Korea gets missiles? Hmmm....
I think the world is going to change very radically over the next couple of centuries. We may not live to see the half of it, but I predict that the "nation-state" is a dying idea. As information, money, and human resources flow increasingly freely between countries, political boundaries as we have known them for the past several hundred years (also an idea invented by the West) will stop meaning much. Oh, to be a fly on the wall...

[Dan]

Bismillah


instead of "where you from?"-- "What corperation do you live at?"

[arclight]

Muslims will be fine with Chinese hegemony so long as it doesn't result in war on their lands and blind support of Israel. You might call that short-sighted, and maybe it is, but I think it's the truth of it.

IMHO thats a big mistake. Right now the communist rulers are relaxing the laws on religion, but only because they see it as a way of strengthing the nation. Once they reach a point where they feel they have the upper hand, then they could just as easily go back to the old oppressive ways.

I think the world is going to change very radically over the next couple of centuries.

It has done over the last few hundred years. I just hope we don't wipe each other out in the process.

We may not live to see the half of it, but I predict that the "nation-state" is a dying idea.

I think you may be under estimating the power of a national identity. Try and take it away and it becomes stronger, and may snap back ie; nationalist


edit: and yes John, I'm fully aware of what sarcasm means :rolleyes: B)

[Khairan]

I think you may be under estimating the power of a national identity. Try and take it away and it becomes stronger, and may snap back ie; nationalist

I don't think so. Remember that nationalism is an invention of mercantilist Europe. People didn't pledge alliegance to "countries" before, they were pledged to rulers. The King *was* the state. Nationalism was a brilliant invention because it lent permanency to a political entity, giving it power beyond the confines of a single human life or the rule of one family. However, just because we've lived with it for so long doesn't mean it's "natural."
Anyway, I suppose time will tell...