State Of Superpowers 2023
USA, China, EU, India & Russia
Key Questions
Will the US and allies continue to dominate the globe?
How strong is the opposition?
(BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)What does the future hold for Europe?
Which team will India, the most populous nation, choose?
What other smaller countries possess growing power?
Superpower
Definition: a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale.
These are some common ways of measuring a nation’s standing, but it definitely does not tell the full picture. There are many other factors to consider from the average annual growth of these statistics over recent decades to qualitative attributes such as work ethic/culture.
USA
Key Takeaways
Every ~50 year economic regime changes
Notable presidents (landslide elections & preceding societal unrest)
Andrew Jackson: gold & silver standards + central bank limitations
Rutherford B. Hayes: gold/fiat standards
Franklin D. Roosevelt: The New Deal
→ social work/programs & increased gov spendingRonald Reagan: Reaganomics (1980s)
→ cut taxes & decreased gov spendingWe are due in 10 years time
→ Technocracy coming?
Soft Power
![OC] Most Streamed Artists on Spotify (all time) : r/dataisbeautiful](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf78b464-2c29-4965-8a89-9fdd393645ce_2107x4651.png "OC] Most Streamed Artists on Spotify (all time) : r/dataisbeautiful")
Hard Power
US military technology is honestly mind-boggling, which is no surprise given national security is no laughing matter to the Pentagon.
Whether you like it or not the US has been the world superpower since 1945. I would argue they are the lesser evil compared to many other modern and historical empires.
It is important to understand that the US will continue to be incredibly powerful due to inherent geographic advantages and highly diversified domestic industries. Moreover, the “American dream” seems to have not died quite yet as the immigration statistics do not lie, and the amount of millionaires moving to the US every year is similarly staggering. This “brain drain” to the US is an interesting phenomenon I will discuss in another future post!
This video also mentions why China’s current demographic/economic growth slowdown will be not be catastrophic, rather slow and unimpressive.
China
“China completes first yuan-settled LNG trade” (Mar 28, 2023)
New US-China/Russia Cold War?
The “Quad”
(Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)
Initiated in 2007 by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Revived during 2017 ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines.
Quad Plus meetings were held in 2021: additional representatives from South Korea, New Zealand, and Vietnam.
AUKUS
(Aus/UK/US Trilateral Security Pact)
Announced on 15 Sept 2021. Under the pact, the US/UK are assisting Australia in acquiring nuclear submarines.
CHIPS Act
I will be further elaborating on US protectionist policy in an another post addressing globalization, supply chains, and protectionism.
“The CHIPS and Science Act: Here’s what’s in it” (McKinsey, Oct 4, 2022)
EU
UK
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
India
India to drop US dollar in cross-border trade (Apr 2, 2023)
Russia
“Japan Breaks With U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap“ (Apr 2, 2023)
Potential Powers
Brazil
(Union of South American Nations)
Indonesia
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
“Indonesia's quiet rise as an Asian superpower”
Nigeria
(African Union)
