Globalization means there is no economic hegemon. Rather we have what I call centers of production and grown, and each is intertwined to another center. Globalization in fact makes conventional military obsolete because war simply damages or taxes that network, so that there is no economic benefit in initiating that war. War throughout history has been caused predominantly by economic reasons (the other is religious and ideological, but that's another issue). No one goes to war knowing they would lose their shirt. Its traditionally been a battle for land and resources. A war between any of the economic global pillars will sink the economic boat for everyone, including non participants and no matter where they are.
This alone makes the conventional large scale military obsolete, since the only other entities that can sustain such militaries are fellow global pillars while the economic consequences makes it impossible by motivation for each to declare war upon each other. Furthermore, costly militaries are a drain of resources when the true competition now lies elsewhere; competition in the economic and practical technology sphere. In other words, we fight our wars not in the battlefield, but in the mind and market share. That is the lesson of modern Japan. It is not important to be a military power no longer, but to be an economic one.
The second paradigm that is happening is the evolution of the democratic welfare state. There is a dichotomy between empire and welfare, and the British---as well as the rest of Europe---have long made that decision. They voted to be a welfare state, rather than be empires. In essence, the British Empire was given up by default. Japan has already trended to that state, Russia is on its way, and I predict, so will China and India in the decades to come. Once a significant amount of wealth is accumulated in both countries, much of that wealth will go to welfare. Countries like China, will always consider its greatest threats to be internal---a hungry population. Thus national security and welfare goes hand in hand. If you keep your mouths fed, you have a stable nation. In the US, we have an ideological clash to those who wish it to be an imperial nation (mainly Republicans) and those who want it to be welfare nation (mainly democrats).
There are more changes coming in the future. One I see is the coming of the Corporate Nation. Already this is what China is, and they should just change its name from the People's Republic to China Incorporated.. The whole nation runs like a giant business. While officials are not accountable through a democratic process, they are accountable for their economic performance, complete with stats and economic figures per region, which makes them no different from any corporate blue and white shirt. And that goes up to the top. The CCP itself acts like a boardroom, and its leaders are elected no differently from any corporate boardroom.
This alone makes the conventional large scale military obsolete, since the only other entities that can sustain such militaries are fellow global pillars while the economic consequences makes it impossible by motivation for each to declare war upon each other. Furthermore, costly militaries are a drain of resources when the true competition now lies elsewhere; competition in the economic and practical technology sphere. In other words, we fight our wars not in the battlefield, but in the mind and market share. That is the lesson of modern Japan. It is not important to be a military power no longer, but to be an economic one.
The second paradigm that is happening is the evolution of the democratic welfare state. There is a dichotomy between empire and welfare, and the British---as well as the rest of Europe---have long made that decision. They voted to be a welfare state, rather than be empires. In essence, the British Empire was given up by default. Japan has already trended to that state, Russia is on its way, and I predict, so will China and India in the decades to come. Once a significant amount of wealth is accumulated in both countries, much of that wealth will go to welfare. Countries like China, will always consider its greatest threats to be internal---a hungry population. Thus national security and welfare goes hand in hand. If you keep your mouths fed, you have a stable nation. In the US, we have an ideological clash to those who wish it to be an imperial nation (mainly Republicans) and those who want it to be welfare nation (mainly democrats).
There are more changes coming in the future. One I see is the coming of the Corporate Nation. Already this is what China is, and they should just change its name from the People's Republic to China Incorporated.. The whole nation runs like a giant business. While officials are not accountable through a democratic process, they are accountable for their economic performance, complete with stats and economic figures per region, which makes them no different from any corporate blue and white shirt. And that goes up to the top. The CCP itself acts like a boardroom, and its leaders are elected no differently from any corporate boardroom.
