OK, I twisted my ankle yesterday and stayed home today, doing waaay too much websurfing. I hung out for a while over at the BBC News Talking Point to read about the Iraqi Human Rights report released by the British today. Most of the posts were attacking not the horrors of Saddam but the ‘hypocrisy’ of the US and UK and the warmongering Bush, etc. etc. The basic thread seemed to be that the rest of the world was unhappy with the US and its allies making decisions about Iraq. But that’s what superpowers end up doing, exercising power.
So I’ve decided to pose a question that actually has been on my mind for a few weeks, and was also brought up by the Stereotypes Of Americans thread; if not us, who? Which nation would you like to be the world’s superpower? Which do you think would benefit the world most? Whose ideals do you think would be “best” for world prosperity and peace? Who do you think other nations would respect most and listen to? Whose pop culture and political system would make the world a better place?
A couple of ground rules, 'cause it’s my thread
The assumption of the OP is that yes, there is one remaining superpower. You can’t postulate that all the countries would hold hands and share the power, or any other tree-hugging hippie crap
Countries that have ALREADY been the superpower are hereby disqualified, especially those that were aggressively colonial. That means no Britain, no France or Netherlands or Portugal or Spain or Russia or Japan. And even smaller countries had their human rights horrors–no Belgium, for example. Ask the Congolese. I know most countries have traded off the superpower title through time, and some countries were more benign than others during their superpower-hood, but I’d like to see some new superpower candidates in the mix. If the sun has set on your empire, it stays down. Note: if your country WAS one of the colonized and you’re now independent, you’re eligible. Even if you still have Lizzie on your money.
And let’s see if we can get a list to critique and not get bogged down early in each other’s choices. “Iceland, dammit!” “South Africa, man!” “ICELAND!” “SOUTH AFRICA!” on and on for three pages–let’s try to avoid that for a little while.
As for my choice, I really don’t have one. There’s so many good points in so many other countries but none that has the perfect combo for me. I’ve wimped out, lost in
I think caveat #2 gives the game away. Superpowers are by definition going to be at the very least “cultural imperialists,” as the US is routinely called nowadays. (It’s our fault that French people like McDonald’s…) Moreover, I would argue that having superpowers changes you – ask Spiderman. Would Jamaica be Jamaica as we know it if they ruled the world? I say no.
Having said that, I think Ozzie or Kiwi superpowerdom would be benign. They would be less active than the US, which would be good sometimes and bad sometimes.
I couldn’t live under Canada. They’d make everyone be polite and nice by law.
Relevant isn’t the right word, but it’s the first one that comes to mind. (A shiny nickel to whomever can identify that literary referance)
The concept of the abuse of power is tracable to Darwinian evolutionary motives, if you ask me. Those in power will do what is necessary to remain in power. Those not in power will attempt to overthrow those in power. Often, this will lead to the usage of less than savory practices on all sides. The best we can all hope for is that the people in power remain fairly benevolent and comitted to fair ideals. Honestly, I think the United States does a fairly good job with that–here is a country founded by moral Puritans in the spirit of freedom and public participation in governmental affairs. Sure we screw up sometimes. But who’s perfect? Every country’s got its own sordid history. The American Empire (for it is an empire of sorts, at least in terms of monopolization of ruling power) hasn’t been around long, and it’s been fairly competant and tolerant. So cut us some slack, international community. Most of us Americans are intelligent, free-thinking individuals… remember, a person is smart, people are stupid.
Some would argue that a multi-power system is most stable–Yin balancing Yang and so forth. I am inclined to agree. Superpowers of the Cold War era were always the cause of great tension, but I believe that an amiable balance can be struck. One superpower afraid to act unilaterally for fear of retaliation of another… this is enlightened world politics.
I thought of Canada first, too, but then realized it might be like the Halloween Simpsons show where Ned Flanders rules the world.
And good call, furt, on noting the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of being a Superpower. You can be nice and cultured and spend money on decent health care and housing too if you don’t have to maintain thirty thousand guys in, I dunno, Korea.
All men will now wear kilts, bringing forth true equality of the sexes where it counts. Hey, men can have sexy legs, too!
Single malt whiskey will become the standard liquor of choice.
Forget English and French at the U.N., from now on, it’s Scottish Gaelic.
Just think, Scotland never colonized anybody. No favorites, and they don’t take bribes. Although, they might want to have a word with the Romans…
Do I hear a second…?
Another hand raised for the Kiwis. They’re multicultural, industrialized, well educated, very polite when necessary, they prefer other sports to soccer, and they drink a lot of beer. They have some experience in administering their own quiet empire. Hell, they oughta be running the show right now.
And it has Nova Scotia, where you can still hear Scottish Gaelic!
Grandma was from there, and when she and her sister didn’t want their husbands to understand what they were saying, they spoke in Gaelic. The sons knew enough to teach me some cursing.
But again, Ned Flanders syndrome, I dunno. Although hearing the ‘eh’ in a million different accents might be fun.
And nameless, welcome to the SDMB. I also think that America has been a pretty decent superpower given the circumstances, but quite a lot of people around the world seem to think otherwise, very vocally, so I just wanted to see what folks here thought.
Not my vote, but an interesting one, bearing in mind that we’re talking about superpower, not complete imperial rule:
The Vatican.
Not disqualified because previous superpower status was as a different political entity.
