After the second world war came to a grinding halt, the United States became the undisputed world superpower. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the strength of the U.S was further reinforced and activated after the collapse of the communist power of the Soviet Union. Although the U.S has enjoyed a stable and reputable regime since the inception of the "Americas century" tables has shifted in the recent past. Although the U.S is still the prevailing world superpower, it is evident that China is taking over the world economy and hence is becoming much more resilient and influential to the world politics in comparison to the U.S There are several factors that determine the strengths of a country and some include the economy, the political stance, the military, and technological advancement among others. Even though the influence and power of the U.S have declined sharply, it will still remain a superpower for decades to come and China will not likely take its place as the world's superpower.
The strength and influence of the U.S have declined sharply after the global economic crisis of 2008. However, the current economic crisis that is faced by the United States is still minor as compared to that witnessed during the great depression era (Freeman " Goodman 2008 38). According to economic statistics, the total global output of the U.S has dropped by a small margin from 28 to 25 percent. The current global economic trends continue to have an effect on the well-being of the united states and there is a high chance that the 21st century will not be an "American Century." For the past 70 years, the average economic growth of the U.S in every decade has been about 3%. Although statistically, such a growth margin could have no effect on young economies, mature economies like that of the U.S can benefit from any increments in their economy (Ikenberry 2008 3). As compared to most of the European countries, the economy of the U.S has been stable and sustainable in every decade for the past 70 years.
Although China's purchasing power has since increased and might surpass that of the United States sooner rather than later, there are still some important economic factors that limit the dominance of China. The U.S enjoys several intrinsic economic advantages that China lacks despite China facing the possibility of failing to advance (Rachman 2016 320). China obtained its economic power from the reliance on trade and the export of goods and services. Despite the dwindling cheap labor and sources of the factors of production, the reliance on export makes China's per capita GDP less than $10000 (Rachman 2016 320). China's over-reliance on the foreign markets to sustain its local economies. The over-reliance on foreign markets makes China vulnerable and dependent on the trading partners and hence making its development lopsided.
The impact of 2 wars, the financial crisis, and high consumption rates in the U.S have contributed to the decline in the ideological and value concepts that have surrounded the U.S over the years (Nye 2015 36). Other than just the economic outcomes, the U.S has suffered multiple injuries which have affected their ego and credibility in terms of their political dominance and superiority. Certain elements such as democracy, human rights, and the market economy saw the rise and decline of the political stance of the U.S. Jacques (2008 800) states that, due to shifting factors in several other areas including the financial crisis of 2008, the leaders of the United States have lost faith in their own rhetoric's. Previously, the U.S had flexed its muscles and declared itself the overall leader of the world's politics (Jacques 2008 802). Despite the failure in the ideologies and decline in the overall political influence, the U.S still has a strong political influence that goes hand in hand with its economic prowess.
China's political party is not as flexible and influential as that of the U.S. The Communist Party in China is still the dominant political party and hence it has monopolized many things in China, thereby making it difficult to make a meaningful reform in China's political system. The party leaders of the prevailing political party often take advantage of the monopoly and engage in an epic chain of corruption (Layne 2018 89). As a result of the almost tyrannical grip of China's government, most of the citizens are dissatisfied with the prevailing state of affairs and hence prefer to go to other countries such as the U.S where they will have much more liberty. China's government has gone to the extent of favoring government projects and industries above those of the other private investors both internal and external. Just like in the case of the United States, for a country to obtain the superpower status it ought to obtain the soft power. Even though China stands out as the most economically superior and one of the most militarized in Asia, it lacks the soft power required to win the hearts of other allied countries. Other than just its military and Economic advancements (Lee 2018 272), China has a gap in the provision of soft power and this will make its dominance difficult. China has failed on several occasions to influence the world on several issues including Confucianism, culture, and language among other things. Other than having political allies the U.S developed its soft power in 1944 and obtained the approval of the other developed nations of the time.
In comparison to China, the U.S has several alliances with other counties after the division during the cold war period. The North Atlantic Trade Treaty Organization, the Anzus pact with New Zealand and Australia, bilateral military agreements with South Korea and Japan and the Five Eyes Intelligence alliance (Liu " Racherla 2018 54). Additionally, China is currently facing a lot of civil unrest from areas such as Hong Kong and the Tibet Mountain regions which want to be free and independent. Although China's political influence had initially limited their involvement in their participation in the United Nations, this has since changed as they are now the second largest donors of the U.N besides the U.S.
Over the years, the U.S has had an advanced security and military system that has since improved after the end of the second world and cold wars. Despite their decline in several other fronts, their military system is well developed and they boost to be light years ahead of the other nations. The nuclear war changed the initial outlook of the U. S's defense system and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have also impacted positively on the military prowess and dominance of the U.S (Luttwak 2012 2006). Additionally, the United States has also strived to disarm all the other smaller countries and hence added its might and military strength. The U. S's military strength is also in line with their economic and political systems which are well streamlined and coordinated. In recent war events, debates have emerged questioning the nature and role of the U.S military army to the rest of the world. The United States army spends roughly 37% of the overall global military expenditure (Luttwak 2012 2006). Despite its advancement and influential role in its military prowess, the U.S has since had challenges in combating terrorist groupings in the middle east. However, on the contrary, the terrorist groupings have equally advanced in the warfare techniques and are highly trained to give well-trained militaries a challenge.
China has developed as an economic hub even though its military has failed to live to the expectation of the standard "superpower" levels. One of the main challenges that China is currently facing is it requires a large amount of money to effectively train and modernize its large military so as to bring it to the levels of the other world developed countries. Unlike the U.S, China's military is coupled with several cases of corruption which leads to a delay in the payments of funds (Liu " Racherla 2018 54). Additionally, there is also a lack of competition in China's military which has further led to its inflexibility in enforcing quality controls and acquiring new technologies among other factors. While the U.S military serves the interests of all the Americans, China's military only focusses on the members of the communist party. China's military equally lacks the experience of war unlike the other nations such as the U.S and the U.K. China's military is disadvantaged and hence jeopardizes the position and place of the nation in relation to the other nations such as the United States (Jacques 2008 802).
Although China is a fast-growing economy with innovation and exportation at the top of its list, the United States Equally has several advantages that make it retain its position as the world's superpower. According to (Lee 2018 272), the first amendment which includes the aspect of free speech has played a crucial role in the sharing and generation of ideas in the U.S. Over the years, the United States has developed a culture of exceptionalism which has seen its rise in technology and innovation. In the United States, the culture of taking risks and success is strongly encouraged and rewarded. However, unlike in other countries, failure is equally embraced and is seen as a positive move towards success and prosperity. The U.S does not only dwell on its resources but also capitalizes on abilities of immigrants. Being a country made up of immigrants, the U.S encourages the sharing of foreign ideas and skills and hence has set in place deliberate measures and steps that are meant to address and encourage foreigners with specialized skills in mathematics, engineering, technology, and the sciences (Lee 2018 272). In order to cultivate a culture of innovativeness and technological advancement, the U.S has equally introduced learning technologies and innovative techniques in their education system by promoting independence and autonomy among their students. The current public policies in the U.S favor start-up businesses and entrepreneurship in comparison to other countries. As a result, the start-up businesses are highly likely to succeed and grow in the U.S due to the prevailing conducive conditions.
Despite the previous claims and perceptions about China's tendency to copy the innovations of others, they have since scaled up their innovation strategies. China boasts of an innovation strategy which can only be equated to that of Silicon Valley. In the recent times, China has a well-developed digital market which is larger in comparison to that of the U.S (Lee 2018 272). Two of the current leading internet companies in the world come from China. Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group have emerged as the world leaders in e-commerce, online gaming and several other aspects of the social media. Recent inventions include the Mavic Pro drone, the WeChat-all-inclusive app and the bike-sharing industry which have become a source of awe and admiration in China.
Pollution is another challenge that has engulfed China and is a major hindrance in their journey towards becoming a worlds super power. Scientists estimate that nearly1.6 million lives are claimed every year in China due to the effects of pollution that emerged due to industrialization. China also has the menace of overpopulation which has become a major stumbling block in their development and advancement. Bearing nearly 20% of the world's population, China has become dependent on the resources of foreign countries in order to meet its needs. With the demographic challenge of the aging population, In the next5 decades, nearly 44% of the working population will have retired (Reiter " Hazdra 2004 36). Most of the Chinese Youths have since left their country to seek better opportunities in other countries such as the U.S and Africa. It is becoming increasingly hard for the Chinese to tap back the potential of their youths who are needed to sustain the economy of their country. Unlike the other developed nations, the wealth distribution in China is also uneven since the dawn of the 1980s (Nye 2010 89). A significant population of the Chinese people still lives in poverty-stricken conditions without electricity and poor housing. Their population menace is equally making it hard to address the needs of the enormous population.
In the recent past, China has emerged as a possible contender of the superpower title currently held by the U.S. However, China still has a lot of issue in its docket to address. On the economic front, China over-relies on the exports of its goods to other countries and hence the increase in the cost of production is predicted to rise in the near future. China's political willpower is equally unstable and inconsistent as compared to that of the U.S. while the U.S has a strong political system that coordinates its place as the superpower, China's political system has gaps and deficiencies which makes it stagnate. The Communist party which is the dominant party makes all the political decisions and hence infringes the rights of the other minority groups. On the international front, China is less influential in comparison to the U.S. While the U.S has a well-coordinated organized military, China's military is poorly coordinated and lacks experience in addition to being infested with corruption. The technological advancement and development's in China's military are no match to that of the U.S. China faces other numerous issues such as a large population that is not sustainable, environmental pollution and a widening wage gap. Despite its technological advancement, China's technological sector is inconsistent as compared to the already established technological system of the U.S. It is, therefore, correct to state that China has some elements that could make it a world superpower but the U.S has will enjoy its position for many more decades to come.
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