[Zenomorph]

No not India, Agree with RyanT on this. The basic level of poverty and lack of development is too big, regardless of GDP rates. Coming from such low levels it's not hard to chalk up big GDP numbers.

[swbp]

People consistently name the BRIC economies but I personally believe Mexico will emerge soon ( don't hold me to this). A key to developing global status is attracting TNCs, and thus countries like Mexico with low labour costs are attractive and thus may develop. They're also part of the NAFTA trade bloc which is internationally significant and could spark further investment. I admit though, it may take a while for this to happen.

[King Kebab]

China and India are the only two countries with the potential to become superpowers in the next 30 years.

[AverageExcellence]

Perhaps the EU in years if political integration becomes more centralised like germany are requesting, and UK+France give up their UN seats for a EU one. I knows its all unlikely but never say never

[Zenomorph]

India's economic fundamentals apart from GDP are actually pretty awful

[That Bearded Man]

(Original post by Stalin)
Let me get this straight: Australia and/or South Korea are going to become superpowers?

Well, rather than simply restating what was already said what's wrong with throwing the cat amongst the pigeons?

[DynamicSyngery]

(Original post by Zenomorph)
No not India, Agree with RyanT on this. The basic level of poverty and lack of development is too big, regardless of GDP rates. Coming from such low levels it's not hard to chalk up big GDP numbers.

As opposed to China?

[Stalin]

(Original post by That Bearded Man)
Well, rather than simply restating what was already said what's wrong with throwing the cat amongst the pigeons?

D-e-l-u-d-e-d.

[anarchism101]

There won't be a superpower to the same extent that the US is now, expect a much more multipolarised world. Plus if you look at history, empires that collapse relatively rapidly and suddenly are replaced rapidly and suddenly, empires that collapse slowly and gradually (like the US currently is) can take a while before a replacement emerges.

[cl_steele]

China or depending how the EU goes maybe that ... although by current definition Russia still is so hey ho..

[Arbolus]

At the moment China seems to be the best bet.

Would be interesting to see what happens if the EU becomes more integrated though. Together the EU countries already have the largest economy in the world, the third-largest population, the second highest military expenditure, nuclear weapons and two permanent seats on the UN Security Council. And as Eastern Europe continues to develop there's no reason why it couldn't overtake America in other areas as well.

[That Bearded Man]

(Original post by Stalin)
D-e-l-u-d-e-d.

Stalin calling someone deluded?

[Zenomorph]

(Original post by DynamicSyngery)
As opposed to China?

China's FX reserves are #1 in the WORLD. Look:

The following is a list of the top largest systems by foreign exchange reserves:

Rank Country Billion USD (end of month)

1 China People's Republic of China $ 3,305 (Mar 2012)[5]
2 Japan $ 1,303 (Feb 2012)[6]
- European Union Eurozone $ 936 (Feb 2012)[7] [8]
3 Saudi Arabia $ 541 (Dec 2011)[9]
4 Russia $ 514 (Feb 2012)[10]
5 Republic of China (Taiwan) $ 395 (Apr 2012)[11]
6 Brazil $ 371 (Apr 2012)[12]
7 Switzerland $ 335 (Mar 2012)[13]
8 South Korea $ 316 (Feb 2012)[14]
9 India $ 293 (Jan 2012)[14]
- Hong Kong $ 285 (Dec 2011)[15]
10 Germany $ 263 (Feb 2012)[14]



India has less than 300 Billion, less than a thousand times what China has - shows how far behind India is.

Trouble with India is it spends too much on defence at the expense of its own population.

[Drunk Punx]

Why does it have to be a country? Why not a continent? Say, Europe?

They're all next to each other sitting shoulder to shoulder, I don't think it would be impossible nor impractical to suggest that if all the countries around the main bulk of Europe bonded together and formed a super nation, they would overtake the US.

[Student2806]

To anyone saying Australia: A country with less than 25 million people is not going to be a superpower, regardless of how much **** is digs out of the ground and flogs to China. Britain has a greater chance of rebuilding the Empire than of Australia becoming a superpower.

My vote goes, unsurprisingly, to China.

[DynamicSyngery]

(Original post by Zenomorph)
China's FX reserves are #1 in the WORLD. Look:

The following is a list of the top largest systems by foreign exchange reserves:

Rank Country Billion USD (end of month)

1 China People's Republic of China $ 3,305 (Mar 2012)[5]
2 Japan $ 1,303 (Feb 2012)[6]
- European Union Eurozone $ 936 (Feb 2012)[7] [8]
3 Saudi Arabia $ 541 (Dec 2011)[9]
4 Russia $ 514 (Feb 2012)[10]
5 Republic of China (Taiwan) $ 395 (Apr 2012)[11]
6 Brazil $ 371 (Apr 2012)[12]
7 Switzerland $ 335 (Mar 2012)[13]
8 South Korea $ 316 (Feb 2012)[14]
9 India $ 293 (Jan 2012)[14]
- Hong Kong $ 285 (Dec 2011)[15]
10 Germany $ 263 (Feb 2012)[14]



India has less than 300 Billion, less than a thousand times what China has - shows how far behind India is.

Trouble with India is it spends too much on defence at the expense of its own population.

Why is this random metric more important than GDP?

[Zenomorph]

(Original post by DynamicSyngery)
Why is this random metric more important than GDP?

You asked why India is backward ' as opposed to China '. This is 1 of the main reasons why.

[Top Banana]

You may laugh, but if the EU survives the current crisis and merges as some predict, I think it will attain superpower status...

[DynamicSyngery]

(Original post by Zenomorph)
You asked why India is backward ' as opposed to China '. This is 1 of the main reasons why.

UK has far less FX reserves than China (it isn't even on that list). Is it more backward than China? Or weaker than Switzerland?

[Zenomorph]

(Original post by DynamicSyngery)
UK has far less FX reserves than China (it isn't even on that list). Is it more backward than China? Or weaker than Switzerland?

UK rolling annual deficit is GBP150 Billion, that is every year. Who do you think props most of this up ?

Yes, Switzerland is much stronger than UK, isn't that obvious ?