Marconius
One-eyed Wonder Mod
+368|6698|San Francisco
Nice try at some reactionary prose, but you lose.  Thanks for playing.

Anyways, my money would be on China as our successor, as long as they could get their gov't back into order.  Followed by India, then Russia, also only if they can get their gov't back in order.
BEE_Grim_Reaper
Member
+15|6711|Germany
Marconius: I like the quote in you sig
Emetchar
Member
+0|6716

beeng wrote:

It's going to be Nauru.
Under that tiny island lays a fortress full of futuristic battle robots!
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/fac … os/nr.html
Phosphate stockpile!? That's gotta be some sort of WMD.
Horseman 77
Banned
+160|6842
They said the Same Thing about the U.S.S.R.  In fact they were sure of it.

You'd   " lose " your money.

And if War was the Terrorism of the Rich then  What type of terror was it that Freed the Concentration camps victems.

Put a lid on that mindless Pseudo intellectual blather it has no place in reality.
BEE_Grim_Reaper
Member
+15|6711|Germany

Horseman 77 wrote:

They said the Same Thing about the U.S.S.R.  In fact they were sure of it.

You'd   " lose " your money.

And if War was the Terrorism of the Rich then  What type of terror was it that Freed the Concentration camps victems.

Put a lid on that mindless Pseudo intellectual blather it has no place in reality.
You might want to consider who started World War II in the first place. I guess it were those who also built concentration camps in the first place.
TehSeraphim
Thread Ender
+58|6728|New Hampshire
China.  Hands down.

Think about it - they're a stones throw away from the middle east, where they can suck up all the oil they want.  They own a huge part of the United States, and are currently trying to corner the world oil market, in which case most of Europe would be completely screwed out of oil.  They'd take over Japan immediately (because Japan currently has no Army due to the end of WWII treaty) - and have access to all their technology - if anyone was left alive (Japans fucked China over pretty hard before...im sure retribution would be harsh).  On top of this you have the largest population of any country in the world, with a government that can force people to work on what they need.  A growing industrialized nation.  These guys are also good at reproducing technology.  Geeze...what else do you need?
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6721
so what if they own a hug part of the us? us can buy it back, US can threaten china's economy, how? coz since the US spends 1 billion+ on chinese products every year, but their private enterprise right? but whos paying the tax if they got no money? and the chinese ppl want democrocy, they might start a revolution sum day
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B.Schuss
I'm back, baby... ( sort of )
+664|6846|Cologne, Germany

I wonder when ( if ever in the near future ) the US and China will face of in one of the regional conflicts for the first time. Right now, there is not much potential for conflict, as China has stayed out of the war on terror ( as terrorists don't seem to be interested in them atm ).
Taiwan is a potential battlefield but I don't believe the US will be willing to risk a military conflict with China over that little Island.
mikeshw
Radioactive Glo
+130|6842|A Small Isle in the Tropics

B,

There is currently too much US investment in China for both countries to allow armed conflict. AMD, Seagate, Intel have manufacturing facilities in China, some of which are huge. So, imo the face off might be remote. The Taiwan issue may eventually disappear if the general populace on that island can see the long term benefits of an integrated economy. But I think this may take time and hard sell from the Chinese government.

To the point about Chinese being paid low wages, it really is relative to the cost of living. The same can be said about the East Europeans too and how some manufacturing facilities are relocating from Western Europe to Eastern Europe (I stand corrected on this). Its not just China.

I still maintain that the future of armed conflicts will not be a superpower face off, but a religion-related one. The Chinese will come out tops as they are not drawn into religious conflicts and avoid debilitating their economy over armed conflicts. Investors see that as a safe haven to park manufacturing operations, and the technology transfer will eventually benefit the Chinese. Just as Nikon took apart European cameras and made a household name for themselves, I see the same thing happening eventually for the Chinese. They are even featuring a car in the upcoming Detroit Motor Show (I think), which shows how serious they are in making a mark on the world economy. I believe Haier is already making inroads in the American consumer market, and wasnt it a report made (I saw this on an American tv channel back during X'mas of '04) about how many gifts being purchased for the festive season are actually made in the US?

So, once more,imho.. Economic Superpower (Future) = China
Military Superpower (Future) = US for its technologically advance military

Edit:

The Taiwanese themselves recently allowed the transfer of technology in the manufacturing of 8" silicon wafer fabrication facility to be setup in China. So, it really is a matter of time before Taiwan becomes integrated into China, and hopefully for the sake of all those in Asia, peacefully.

Last edited by mikeshw (2006-01-18 05:09:54)

Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6721
agree mike, but to B, doesnt the US have a law that stated they will help taiwan? then why do they have an airbase/naval base in okinawa (correct me if im wrong)
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B.Schuss
I'm back, baby... ( sort of )
+664|6846|Cologne, Germany

I agree. If a conflict between global religions should come though, I wonder what china's position would be. Until now, they have not been targeted by middle eastern terrorists much, if at all ( cannot recall if Al'Quaeda ever did something over there ).

China wisely stayed out of the regional conflicts of the last two decades ( it probably didn't concern them much ) and concentrated on building their economy instead. accordingly, while the USA wasted away on their first surplus in a long time, China grew stronger and stronger.

Whenever the final showdown between christianity and Islam will come, I wonder if China would be able to stay out of it. Cause in theory, muslims make no difference between western infidels and chinese infidels.
China'd be better of sticking to the west in such a conflict...
B.Schuss
I'm back, baby... ( sort of )
+664|6846|Cologne, Germany

cyborg_ninja-117 wrote:

agree mike, but to B, doesnt the US have a law that stated they will help taiwan? then why do they have an airbase/naval base in okinawa (correct me if im wrong)
I have no idea. But why would they have a law that would put their national security in so much danger ?
I have heard that they have a agreement with the Taiwanese government about possible help, should China decide to invade. But considering the relatively short distance betweeen China and Taiwan I wonder if the US Armed Forces could be there in sufficient numbers to do anything to stop China.

if china really wanted Taiwan back that bad / fast, they would have rolled over them a long time ago. I believe the Chinese government has simply decided to give the matter some time. Patience is the key here.

Right now, the USA is getting a lot of bad press for being a world bully. China wants no share in that, I guess.

I'll google the US-Taiwan relations. shouldn't you know, since you live there ?

btw, US bases in Japan have been there since WWII. It allows the US to keep a military presence over there without having to deploy a costly carrier group all the time.
mikeshw
Radioactive Glo
+130|6842|A Small Isle in the Tropics

Imho, religion has been quietly suppressed in China or at least for Christianity ( I cant vouch for Islam). So I really doubt that China will take sides. It will not be to their economic advantage to do so, and especially with a fringe Muslim community on their common borders with Kazakhstan and the likes, they will be courting instability.

It is likely to be a case of waiting on the sidelines and play both sides. After all, they do peddle military hardware to the mid-East. Taking sides therefore may not make sense for them.
monkeyhunkeytunkey
Member
+2|6746
i think china or North and south Korea
B.Schuss
I'm back, baby... ( sort of )
+664|6846|Cologne, Germany

btw, the important document as far as US-Taiwan relations are concerned is the "Taiwan Relations act" of 1979. This is what wikipedia has to say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Relations_Act

Text of the TRA can be found here ( AIT website ): http://www.ait.org.tw/en/about_ait/tra/
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6721

B.Schuss wrote:

cyborg_ninja-117 wrote:

agree mike, but to B, doesnt the US have a law that stated they will help taiwan? then why do they have an airbase/naval base in okinawa (correct me if im wrong)
I have no idea. But why would they have a law that would put their national security in so much danger ?
I have heard that they have a agreement with the Taiwanese government about possible help, should China decide to invade. But considering the relatively short distance betweeen China and Taiwan I wonder if the US Armed Forces could be there in sufficient numbers to do anything to stop China.

if china really wanted Taiwan back that bad / fast, they would have rolled over them a long time ago. I believe the Chinese government has simply decided to give the matter some time. Patience is the key here.

Right now, the USA is getting a lot of bad press for being a world bully. China wants no share in that, I guess.

I'll google the US-Taiwan relations. shouldn't you know, since you live there ?

btw, US bases in Japan have been there since WWII. It allows the US to keep a military presence over there without having to deploy a costly carrier group all the time.
the base is just airforce, f-15's,  and yes china did try in the 60's i think, taiwanese airforce pwned their ass, and yes pacient is the key, coz our government is having a hug fight right now between the 2 major parties (ddp and kmt) kmt does not want to increase the budget for our defence (retarded eh?) and ddp wants to increase it which is good. we got super cobras as our first line our defence, and their against slow moving boats, and f-16's i know they suck buy our pilots are good.
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B.Schuss
I'm back, baby... ( sort of )
+664|6846|Cologne, Germany

well, from what I can conclude from Wikipedia, Taiwan should rightfully belong to China, if you ask me...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan

Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang would have been defeated in the chinese civil war if North corea hadn't invaded South corea in 1950.
Interestingly, the ROC was a founding member of the UN and even held the seat of China in the security council until 1971 ( when the UN threw out the ROC and reckognized the PRC as the only legitimate government for China ).
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6721
no no, that wasnt the case, the UN didnt throw us out, chiang kai-shek was a moron and he quit the UN coz the UN allowed a seat for the prc... imho he is a retard, taiwan could have taken back china in the 50's coz that time china was weak, but nooooooo chiang wanted to wait and wait and wait... until we are now in our lame position
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2ndLt.Tucker
If you can read this, your already dead
+33|6687|Stillwater, Ok
Hey don't go dissing on the F-16. It's not as manueverable as the F-15E Strike Eagle but its a very capable fighter. Its smaller size does allow for it to dodge missiles easier as well as being much harder to spot in the sky. It can perform the same roles as an f-15 and depending as to what block you have can perform even better.  Our block 42's out performed the F-15 Strike Eagles that were in Qatar at the same time we were.  Our bombs were on target more and so was the close air support.  So the people who work on the aircraft and fly them have ALOT to do with performance.  POOR F-15's.
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6721
no, we got 70's era f-16c's heard they werent the best... but our pilots are great even that the chinese have su-30's they still cant shoot us down lol
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BVC
Member
+325|6700
China, though I think India could also have a part to play in the future given their population, and I can see the EU becoming more powerful...particularly if the UK adopted the Euro as their currency.  The US can't really extend itself any further.
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6721
US's economy is dropping... which is really bad, i think bush should spend more time about how to improve the economy, not just focus on iraq
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