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Zeld2.0 · 08-23-2003, 06:16 PM

Both China and EU have high potentials.

Its true the EU is bound to the economy of the U.S. - but at the same time, the EU is trying to get away from being bound to the economy of the U.S., something Europe has been trying for a decade now.

The EU, despite its numerous differences (some stretching thousands of years) and histories (not to mention that just 60 years ago Europe was a ruin..) does have extreme potential in every way though.

They have a huge population. Each nation has large armies and they have weapons that are our own contemporaries. Yes they don't focus on the military as much as the U.S., but their equipment is often the same as our own (well considering all the treaties and defense work in the past, its a given.)

Now what would be interesting is if Russia joins the EU. now THAT would be a huge landmass with lots of resources and manpower. And the EU has large industrial capacity as well - combined they can easily beat the U.S. now.

Thats a key advantage that China has as well - a huge percent of the stuff in the U.S. is made in China.

The large population gives them a lot of advantages:
-Large military - invaders are going to have a bitch of a time with an army that can have like 100 million in the male adult range of 18-49.
-Cheap labor - makes an industrial base that is able to literally hold the world hostage if it decides to shut everything down

China has major changes though - i visited China in 1992 and again in January this year and I was impressed at how much had changed at Shanghai and other cities. They really modernized a lot of China - sure a lot of it is still "peasants" and it is indeed very rural, but it has grown tremendously. Capitalism has been embraced far more in China - of course human rights / communist issues are still there, but it has really turned.

In 40 years China can easily be the next superpower.

Now what would be interesting though is in 40 years how things will go - if Russia joins the EU then you would have one huge mass from the North atlantic to the North Pacific - then bordering it is China, another power, and across the ocean is the US.

In that case though, if they were all hostile to the U.S., the U.S. would be in shit - with far less industrial capacity than the other nations (than ever before now...) and with the U.S. economy almost entirely dependent on those abroad.. I can see how things can get very serious in the future.

08-23-2003, 06:16 PM	#17 (permalink)
Zeld2.0 Cherry-pickin' devil's advocate Location: Los Angeles	Both China and EU have high potentials. Its true the EU is bound to the economy of the U.S. - but at the same time, the EU is trying to get away from being bound to the economy of the U.S., something Europe has been trying for a decade now. The EU, despite its numerous differences (some stretching thousands of years) and histories (not to mention that just 60 years ago Europe was a ruin..) does have extreme potential in every way though. They have a huge population. Each nation has large armies and they have weapons that are our own contemporaries. Yes they don't focus on the military as much as the U.S., but their equipment is often the same as our own (well considering all the treaties and defense work in the past, its a given.) Now what would be interesting is if Russia joins the EU. now THAT would be a huge landmass with lots of resources and manpower. And the EU has large industrial capacity as well - combined they can easily beat the U.S. now. Thats a key advantage that China has as well - a huge percent of the stuff in the U.S. is made in China. The large population gives them a lot of advantages: -Large military - invaders are going to have a bitch of a time with an army that can have like 100 million in the male adult range of 18-49. -Cheap labor - makes an industrial base that is able to literally hold the world hostage if it decides to shut everything down China has major changes though - i visited China in 1992 and again in January this year and I was impressed at how much had changed at Shanghai and other cities. They really modernized a lot of China - sure a lot of it is still "peasants" and it is indeed very rural, but it has grown tremendously. Capitalism has been embraced far more in China - of course human rights / communist issues are still there, but it has really turned. In 40 years China can easily be the next superpower. Now what would be interesting though is in 40 years how things will go - if Russia joins the EU then you would have one huge mass from the North atlantic to the North Pacific - then bordering it is China, another power, and across the ocean is the US. In that case though, if they were all hostile to the U.S., the U.S. would be in shit - with far less industrial capacity than the other nations (than ever before now...) and with the U.S. economy almost entirely dependent on those abroad.. I can see how things can get very serious in the future.