Chroniques patagones

D'abord ce fut l'Allemagne. Les soldats volontaires nord-américains n'auraient aucune chance face aux disciplinées et aguerries troupes de l'Allemagne nazie. Ensuite ce fut le Japon. La science et la technologie japonaises allaient faire que l'économie de ce pays dépasserait en quelques années celle des États-Unis. Maintenant, c'est au tour de la Chine. En 2030, ce pays devrait dépasser les États-Unis comme super-puissance mondiale.

The Futurist se demande si les choses se passeront réellement ainsi :

One of the most popular dinner party conversation topics is the possibility that the United States will be joined or even surpassed as a superpower by another nation, such as China. China has some very smart people, a vast land area, and over four times the population of the US, so it should catch up easily, right? Let's assess the what makes a superpower, and what it would take for China to match the US on each pillar of superpowerdom.

A genuine superpower does not merely have military and political influence, but also must be at the top of the economic, scientific, and cultural pyramids. Thus, the Soviet Union was only a partial superpower, and the most recent genuine superpower before the United States was the British Empire.