I was watching President Obama’s state of the nation address to America recently when one of the TV pundits referred to him as the most powerful man in the world.
Hang on a moment, I thought – is that true?
Aside from the fact that America today is considered by many to be a treacherous friend and ineffective enemy, is Obama really still the most powerful hombre around?
Hmmm … if you want to test this, as a Brit journalist called Sean Thomas did, just google the following two words, ‘China overtakes’.
You’ll be astonished at what pops up. For example China slugs back more red wine than any other nation, including the French and Italians. The Chinese drive more BMWs than anyone else, including the Germans. China has just overtaken America as the largest trader with fellow emerging giant, Brazil.
There’s more. China guzzles more oil than anyone else and, of interest to South Africa, is the most avid consumer of gold.
It’s the world biggest shipbuilder, last year overtaking neighbour South Korea. Chinese inventors now file more patents than any other nationality. It’s not only the world’s biggest market for computers – it now also manufactures a gobsmacking 90% of the global total of personal computers.
The list seems endless. China now builds 80% of the world’s air conditioners, 74% of the world’s solar cells, 70% of the world’s mobile phones, 60% of the world’s cement, and 63% of the world’s shoes. Just as an aside, it also produces 50% of the world’s pork and 48% of the world’s coal
The Chinese are the biggest buyers of Jaguar cars and wear more Savile Row suits than any pukkah Brit. In fact, it’s only thanks to China that Savile Row tailors – the ultimate in a set of threads – even exist.
If you’re still not impressed, consider this: last month China became the biggest trading nation in the world, sweeping aside America which has held that spot for decades.
Geopolitical power
Just absorb that for a moment. China does more business with other countries than anyone else – and that is the nub of the issue. It is the true source of geopolitical power for the simple reason that someone who buys and sells your stuff is far more important to you than someone who can beat the hell out of you.
America’s military might still dwarfs that of anyone else and their spending on weapons is almost greater than the rest of the world put together. But what has that got them? They lost in Vietnam, while Iraq and Afghanistan can hardly be considered victories. Even worse, they’re unlikely to win future conflicts because – as everyone from the Taliban to Al Qaeda knows – you cannot fight a war with one hand tied behind your back, which is America’s preferred option.
They’re so busy being politically correct that their generals spend more time studying law manuals than military strategy.
That’s the way things are at the moment. Unless America gets a strong president soon, or at least a president that the increasingly powerful bleeding heart lobby allows to be strong, the country will follow the route of all empires.
Okay, in America’s case it was an economic rather than imperial empire, but the end result will be the same if the next president is as indecisive as Obama. In fact, the Washington Post is already predicting that China’s GDP will overtake America by 2017.
The Chinese themselves think this is not only inevitable, but the natural order of the planet. They believe with granite conviction that power is somehow cosmically rooted in Asia, and that the Anglo-Saxon empires of the last few centuries were mere abnormalities.
I hope they are wrong. For all her faults, America is still a massive force for good. And somehow I can’t help feeling that Obama being only the second most powerful man in the world is not necessarily a good thing for the rest of us.
SA Government and Labour, etc. has a huge amount to learn from China and their development and labour policies and willingness to WORK, instead of receiving without effort.