The coming decade of the 21st century would perhaps require an extraordinary focus on Asia which includes China, India, and several other southeast Asian nations. The cumulative population of these nations and regional powers would be more than the combined population of all others nations and are among the most vibrant economy. As news reports suggest that economic giants from third world Asia namely China and India are expected to grow at the rate of 9.7 and 6.5 percent respectively. The GDP growth rate of these nations is much higher than that of any developed nation and hence are the two fastest-growing economies of the world.
China has now become the factory of the world with large multinational companies infusing lots of money in establishing manufacturing units and India is now one of the major destinations for back-office jobs and is the leading service sector economy. Though these regions are far from the western European nations on several important issues like absolute productivity and per capita productivity; the continued growth of these Asian economies even in the extreme global recession have provided them greater weight in shaping the future of world economy.
The demise of the USSR in the last decade of 20th century and lack of any potential hegemon on the eastern front of Europe provides a good picture of the future but at the same time, Europe’s aging and shrinking population puts it on the back foot when comparison with Asian dynamic and young population. The productivity advantage may not be able to provide a substantial counterbalance to rising Asian economies and hence the grand strategy of United States might shift from the aging western European economies to the fast-growing nations of the Pacific Rim, China and India.
The emergence of China as a leading partner economy in the Pacific Rim must be counterbalanced and a new era of business and defense alliances should be formalized. China should now be treated as both an economic and security threat rather than a strategic partner. There is now a gross need of a U.S. response to offset all sorts of Chinese aggression. The potential of conflict should now become part of grand strategy rather than the globalization-based prospect of cooperation and interdependence.