Will a politically multipolar world be better than a US-dominated one?

Recent years there's been talk of a new multipolar world order to replace the current US dominated one. With increasing economic and military power in India, China, Brazil and other states the reasoning goes that no one state will be able to dominate world affairs are readily as the US apparently can or could in the recent past. Allowing that one or other or all of these powers do sometime in the next 50 years or so actually get to world power status do you think this will be a net good for the world or otherwise?

Well, last time we had a "multipolar world" it wasn't all that pleasant. But yeah, I tend to distrust any degree of concentration of too much power in too few hands. Plus I think that China and India's focus on economic growth means that ideological differences won't be the driver of how they interact with the U.S. -- we haven't in recent decades had the tense relationship we had with the U.S.S.R. because both sides have strong incentive to cooperate. With time, hopefully, it will discourage U.S. military adventurism (although, China's lack of interest in such matters may mean they won't do much to challenge U.S. militarism.)

Yeah I didn't mention the bipolar Cold War period in my OP, but essentially this scenario is predicated on the US being amongst 2 or more other Superpowers. I think reservations I might have are somewhat related to the cultures of these up-and-coming superpowers. Despite all the US bashing that is so popular in Europe, the US is largely a benign overlord.

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Originally posted by The Original An Gadaí

I think reservations I might have are somewhat related to the cultures of these up-and-coming superpowers. .

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That's putting it mildly. Now the US and the rest of the western world have light years of improvement to make on lots of things, but our stance on women's rights, religious freedoms, reproductive rights, and class structures are far more advanced than anything I'm aware of in the non-western world and while I'd welcome a world where less of the US GNP is poured out into the ether, I think that it's important to remain vigilant as so not to allow the influence of eastern values to erode what progress we've made.

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Originally posted by Cluricaun

That's putting it mildly. Now the US and the rest of the western world have light years of improvement to make on lots of things, but our stance on women's rights, religious freedoms, reproductive rights, and class structures are far more advanced than anything I'm aware of in the non-western world and while I'd welcome a world where less of the US GNP is poured out into the ether, I think that it's important to remain vigilant as so not to allow the influence of eastern values to erode what progress we've made.

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That -- particularly the bit about women's rights -- seems like a pretty odd critique if one applies it to China, at least. (Probably truer of India, I suppose.)

India's growth is probably not sustainable from what I see, so the superpowers in question would probably be an economic giant in China and the third would be the EU if it can strengthen its ties a bit more.

India has a lot of problems and I believe it is a ticking time bomb but it will probably not drag the world down with it but just itself and maybe Pakistan. I guess my full opinion on India will belong to some other thread though.

The rise of China with the resurgence of Europe should actually help the world, the recent abuses by Bush/Cheney shows how dangerous we can be when unchecked internally or externally. I hate the fact we had the Black Hat on but I think in the case of Iraq and the financial markets we did this time and without any excuse.

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Originally posted by What Exit?

The rise of China with the resurgence of Europe should actually help the world, the recent abuses by Bush/Cheney shows how dangerous we can be when unchecked internally or externally. I hate the fact we had the Black Hat on but I think in the case of Iraq and the financial markets we did this time and without any excuse.

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Right. That's the kind of thing that tends to make me think that unchecked power is an evil all on its own. Although I don't remember China even being talked about in the run-up to the Iraq War. They may tend to be too focused on themselves to really act one way or another in regard to other countries' military aggression.

Bump.

China is well on its way to be the next superpower of the world. It is still playing catchup in certain areas to the USA, but it is ahead in others. No, you don't hear much about it, but when you consider how the latest climate change talks went ahead, 2nd rate official sent vs heads of government from other countries, they are only interested in playing their own games. Not to mention, they won that particular battle. China has spent a lot of money and effort on goodwill in Africa and are more highly regarded than Western countries. African mines produce a lot of the precious metals used in society today like rhodium which is scarce but is used in more places than you think. Militarily, the USA is ahead on technology terms, but the Chinese spend on catching up is very, very high. The largest holder of dollars is China and the trade war between them and the USA could be interesting if they ever decided to dump the dollar in large quantities. They won't yet because it is not in their interests to do so,

As for India, they are also coming into their own as a superpower, given their population and technological base. The good news is they are part of the commonwealth and are less likely to cause trouble for the outside world than China. The bad news is that they will probably cause trouble with Pakistan. Both of whom are on their way to becoming nuclear powers.

I would also suggest looking at Iran as a claimed superpower in the near future once it finishes its nuclear program. Not just for energy but for defence as well. Of course, that depends on Israel letting it get that far.

Will it be a better place than just a US dominated one. Having a fairly isolationist dictatorship is probably better than the tensions of superpowers arguing over the world. Last time that happened, we had World War 1. I don't fancy heading for World War 3 anytime soon, but multiple global superpowers are a step in that direction.

India and Pakistan are already nuclear powers.

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Originally posted by The Original An Gadaí

India and Pakistan are already nuclear powers.

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On looking again, you're right. The have nuclear capable missiles.

The other two to watch out for are North Korea and Israel.

I strongly suspect China is getting tired of North Korea and the crazy man. I think as China moves firmly into the first world they will be the ones to bring pressure on North Korea to finally behave. Of course they won't do it US/USSR style with an invasion but with firm pressure for change. It is not as if North Korea has many friends in the world.

As to Israel, what danger do you see? They are pretty much known to have had nukes for decades and won't use them unless invaded or attacked by missiles from lets say Iran from what I can tell. It is a powder keg down there but I do not think we'll see a repeat of the 7 day war. Which of their neighbors would chance it? The Arabs states know they would never win a war with Israel as long as the US does not radically change attitudes.

Speaking of which Iran worries me more than Israel, India, Pakistan or North Korea.