QUOTE(My_Brain_is_on_Fire @ Jan 28 2005, 11:03 AM)
I know you might only see Britain, France (maybe not them so much, although they did appear to still play a vital role in international politics after World War I), and Germany as the only super powers leading up to 1941, but I dont feel it was limited just to them. A super power is defined simply as a powerful nation that has great influence (not just having an atomic/nuclear capability) over other nations. Explain to me how those previously listed nations do not fit that description?
No one saw the United States as a power of any sort. We were, in their eyes, a bunch outcasts with bad breading (sometimes I think the French still see us that way). And they had no reason too. We had never been the deciding factor in any major conflict until WWII. The only person who may have saw the US as a threat (and just a threat, not a major power) was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, but he never really saw Japan as signifacant power either.
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My point exactly you said the surrounding nations would pay tribute to China (maybe a misinterpretation on my part), I was stating that that simply wouldn't happen.
I wasnt clear. China wants the surrounding land neighbors and taiwan to start paying tribute to them within this century (keep in mind that this is speculation). I dont know what they have in plan for Japan. Historically, China had always ignored them seeing them as "Eastern Dwarves" (ie an inferior race), after WWII though that may have changed.
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That is true but not until recently. China still has little regard for human rights.
this conversation, capitalism, and being a world power have nothing to do with human rights. I was only stating that the chinese people have motivational reasons to work harder, the USSR people did not. They got paid the same regardless of how hard they worked, chinese get rewarded for taking on extra jobs and this has always been true (with the exception of the militant phase of the cultural revolution). Consequently, the USSR economy crawled, the chinese economy is growing at an extremely fast rate. One of the biggest differences now in China then 10 years ago, is that they have relaxed the number of employees a company is aloud to have ( i think it used to be six ). So now companies can grow and grow.