Fareed Zakaria – Rising powers need to rise up
Some food for thought from Fareed Zakaria. As the rest rise, how will they be socialized to new roles in the international system? Arguably, the U.S. had a century of British tutelage to prepare for its period of dominance.
The newly rising powers — China, India, Brazil — rightly insist that they be more centrally involved in the structures of power and global decision making. But when given the opportunity, do they step up to the plate and act as great powers with broad interests? On trade? Energy use? Climate change?
No. Many of these countries want to be deferred to on matters of regional peace and stability. Yet they continue to pursue their national interests even more zealously. Perhaps the most egregious example is South Africa, which insists that it is Africa‘s natural leader. Yet the country has been shamefully absent in the efforts to rescue the people of Zimbabwe and Sudan from the tragedies unfolding in their lands.
Chalk up one more example of the institutional inferiority of international politics.
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/09/26/in-the-footsteps-of-the-kaiser-china-boosts-us-power-in-asia/ relates to this topic and, despite a contrived premise, makes some interesting points.
Both articles are very informative. While we hope not to follow others into blunder using comparisons, they do sometimes highlight reactions and paths taken in history, that we would like to avoid repeating. That said, although China may be acting the bully, I believe that the immensity of the nation and the power that it holds labor wise and economically puts it in a very different situation than Germany.