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What other countries besides the US are major players internationally?

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_Jumper_ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:34 AM
Original message
What other countries besides the US are major players internationally?
And how much power do they have? Can any of them be described as neo-imperial?
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Eureka Donating Member (483 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:44 AM
Response to Original message
1. Just look at the coalition of the willing
The big players are all there

Fiji....
Uzbekastan....
Tuvalu....

Sorry :-(
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_Jumper_ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:46 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. So Spain isn't part of the big leagues anymore?
:(
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Eureka Donating Member (483 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 01:15 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. Well if I had to take a stab at it
I would say the big international players, such that they are, should be divided into categories depending on what you want.

For example, if your talking about controlling oil, the international powers would be almost exclusively OPEC countries, and this would include Indonesia.

If you were talking about gathering 'international support' I would say then France, Germany, UK, US, Russia and a few others, pretty much the countries in the G8
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patricia92243 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 02:22 AM
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4. China is the 800 pound gorilla.
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sweetheart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 05:21 AM
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5. What kind of power
3 kinds between nations:

Soft power
Economic Power
Military Power

In a soft power sense, other nations are on an equal footing to
the US and punch above their weight per capita. The number of
british rock bands per capita, that are successful in the US is
larger than any other nation. This soft power is imperial as
well, and indeed the most subtle sort of empire, the ghost you
invite in to your house willingly.

Economic power defines a plethora of nations that are on an equal
scientific footing in terms of manufacturing as the US. The US
has used financial markets, in a very neo imperial way to crush
any opposition on a global basis. No way in hell is a new microsoft
gonna form in kuala lumpur and take marketshare from msft... no way.
THis economic imperialism of USA-today makes it very hard to tell
which nations would be able to handle her absence, as she crowds
out markets by her behaviour.

These countries would be like the G22, all more or less imperal
economically, copying the USA.

Military imperialism... well, the classics: Britain (still today),
Spain, Nederlands, Danmark, Germany, Japan, Korea, China, India, Persia, Egypt (of old), Rome (Italy).

All of these countries have great influence in their previous
empires, even today. As well, all of them are wiser to the irony
of empire. Like being a grandparent and listening to parents
bitch about raising children... and only getting the good bits.
The grandparent empires like britain, know how to deal with
terrorism and defeat it, as they have had centuries of practice.
It would make much of the old empires "neo-neo-imperial". They
seek nonmilitary means of influence to win empires of goodwill.

Britain used its miltiary in africa, like france has, in its old
empire colonies. It falls on the grandparents to clean up the
mess of their kids. Britain is grandparent to the iraq mess, and
america is parent, both of neoimperial ilk.
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Kellanved Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 06:12 AM
Response to Original message
6. Newsweek had a Top Ten a few weeks ago
--snip
#1 United States: Shut out in environmental agreements, water and oil reserves, the U.S. still wins by 72 points.
#2 Germany: It won nothing, but scored in all categories. Germany makes enough impact everywhere to rank second.
#3 France: Trails traditional European rival Germany, but shares many of the same strengths-and weaknesses.
#4 United Kingdom: The old-time military power would have ranked even higher but for a late sag in economic competitiveness.
#5 Japan: Diplomatic scores reflect post-WWII disengagement, but shows surprising strength in the film rankings.
#6 Canada: Oil and water-Canada has plenty of both-mix well enough to yield a sixth-place finish.
#7 Sweden: Unexpectedly strong across the board. Could this be why the Swedes passed on adopting the euro?
#8 China: Weaknesses in innovation, people and resources undercut a strong military and economic showing
#9 Norway: A high quality of life, diplomatic prestige and a bit of oil offset a lack of big money and weapons.
#10 Netherlands: The Dutch have high-value agriculture, high-tech strength and a surprising flair for gunrunning.
--snap
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IronLionZion Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 10:24 AM
Response to Original message
7. Depends on the type of power
Many countries are regional superpowers. The South Pacific looks to Australia to mediate conflicts and bail them out of trouble. Russia plays that role sometimes in Asia and it's former Soviet Republics. Israel is the absolute dominant power in the Middle East but they don't help anyone. China is the 10,000 pound Elephant in the room that nobody talks about.
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