Is America's military hegemony good for the world?

[Leo Gura]

China and India are severely under-developed and they are no serious threat to America's cultural dominance for the next 50-100 years. China authoritarianism will not work in a battle for cultural hegemony. First China will have to undergo an internal democratic revolution before it can really challenge America's dominance. India is even further behind with its Hindu nationalism and massive poverty and infrastructural underdevelopment.

All the problems of democracy that America faced, China, India, and Russia will have to face. Which will take them 100+ years. The Trump phenomenon will repeat itself in those countries at some point as they hit peak Orange and demonize Green. They are not just gonna leapfrog their way into Green. It will be all the same defenses and excuses all over again.

[No Self]

@Leo Gura It depends on how you define dominance.

If it's about military might, the US will dominate for decades to come, as this has been its primary focus. But this may not be the direction that society is heading. If it's about culture, the US is pretty well entrenched as well. I don't think Mandarin will be my primary language any time soon.

If it's about GDP, China is fast catching up. China's automotive market overtook the US in about 2012 from memory.

China is also heavily invested in poorer countries in Asia and Africa that are amongst the fastest growing economies. Its monopoly on manufacturing is still strong, though India has a bright future in this respect. In terms of technology, there are areas where China is vastly ahead (eg. high-speed railways), but also areas where it is still playing catch-up (eg. space exploration).

What is clear is that the US no longer has the all-round monopoly on everything that it did in its heyday, when the rest of the world was a muddy swamp by comparison. I cannot say where things will be in another 30 years, except that it will be a renewable economy, not a 'beautiful clean coal' economy.

[Willie]

7 hours ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

Absolutely not, the American military is an objective force for suffering in the world, its the U.S. that is supporting modern day Israel, America that’s enforcing sanctions which kill thousands of people every year. The only reason America is in Afghanistan after 12 years is for consistent profit, and America keeps interfering in foreign elections but then bitches and moans about ‘m’uh Russian interference’ as it proceeds to excessively sanction Russia, as well as DPRK, Venezuela, etc...

I for one legitimately hope that Iran and N.Kore get nuclear weapons that can strike D.C as well hope that China surpasses America militarily and economically. The moment those two countries get nuclear weapons is the moment they can stop being bullied internationally to some extent.

 

There are already far too many nuclear weapons as it is. Adding more will not reduce suffering. Ideally, countries that currently have nuclear weapons would agree among each other to disarm them, but that’s not realistic. The doomsday clock is as close to midnight now as it ever got during the Cold War.

[Thewritersunion]

I literally have no idea. We can only wait and look in hindsight for as far as I know.