Superpower Futures Flashcards
China and India:Both countries have…
Large and growing populationsLarge and growing economiesChina has 1,366 million people and its population is growing at 0.655% pa. It has a GDP per capita (PPP) of $6500 and real GDP growth of 8.4% (2009).India has 1,156 million people and its population is growing at 1.4% pa. It has a GDP per capita (PPP) of $3,100 and a real GDP growth rate of 6.1% (2009). Every four years India is growing by 60 million (equivalent to UK population).
The growth of the BRIC’s puts pressure on energy reserves…
•Rising prices at the pump (supply to consumer).•Concerns over energy security.•Using more than we are discovering.•Environmental impacts of discovery and use of fossil fuels.
Conflict over resources
Ecological footprintsWater useFuel use- vital for life in the superpowers, for Brazil issues often revolve around HEP, for Russia energy and fuel is a concern- what are they going to do with their bountiful energy in order to boost poor economy, China invests in coal as that is what it has available. All populations are growing and economies are growing. Price of oil and gas will affect India and China and Russia the security will be important.
China:
In 2003, just over 13 people per thousand urban households had a car- Beijing 66/1000.In the USA 750 cars per thousand urban households had a car. Shows China has a huge increase for car ownership- this development is not going to happen in the US. What happens when Chinese people can afford it? Develop = buying cars= buying petrol= increased usage.If China and India had just half of the USA’s current level of car ownership it would double the number of cars in the world.
The whole of the world is affected by the changing balance of power:
the environmental coststhe changes in the global economy (Chinese investment in African countries, growth of trade between the BRICs, the development of a BRIC development bank) the tensions that may emerge
The impact on older core regions…good news.
opportunities for investmentfalling costs for goods and services- consumers have benefited cheaper production costs for TNCs- large TNCs located in the EU and USA but production in places like China -_-new markets (for goods, China- major consumer for luxury products)
The impact on older core regions…bad news.
in recession the competition from emerging nations can increase unemployment; the loss of secondary jobs for the older core regions has been happening for over 40 years, USA and China have taken over certain industrie. Increasingly, the BRIC countries are taking over the tertiary jobs, and it’s not long until quaternary jobs are lost.new superpowers represent a challenge as they will compete for resources.energy security- as China and India become more powerful they will be able to use this to get resources from places we used to get from outsourcing
The challenge from emerging superpowers
Manufacturing moving away from older core aways to the periphery (global shift).May eventually mean a new Asian core area for manufacturing. The positive side of this has been cheap consumer goods. The older core regions moved into tertiary and quaternary areas.
The impact of global shift on the older core areas
The global shift of industry and economic downturn have caused restructuring and de-industrialisation. This can result in large scale unemployment, such as at the Corus steelworks in Teeside.
The car industry
•Important as high value and multiplier effect.•Dominance of the core areas is being challenged – the big US car firms asked the US government for help in 2008.•In the same year the top 5 selling cars in the USA were all Japanese in origin.•Chinese car firms are beginning to invest heavily in global sales.
Space
•Symbolic of superpower status and a key part of the Cold War.•Money required means space exploration is limited to superpowers.The US is cutting its space programme whereas China and India are expanding
What future tensions might there be between superpowers?
Space/land areaResources strain- strategic resources- energy, such as fossil fuels Water- usable water will dwindleImmigrantsNuclear weaponryTechnology Religious/cultural differencesTrade- TNCs, loss of sovereignty, TNCs are arguably the next superpower, trade is vital promotes economic growth.The environment- global environmental problems- global warming, acid rain.
