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Our place in a multipolar world
By Gabriele Catania |
August 17, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN Italy, but also in the rest of Europe and North America, the economic development of China is seen by many as an important but unprecedented event.
In fact, by the end of the 1990s, many American and European experts imagined a world ruled only by the United States, Japan and Europe, with China, Russia and India stuck in the mud of poverty.
The West has often ignored the fact that China has been, for two millennia, one of the world's main players. The West is somehow affected by a dangerous syndrome - "Westcentrism."
This syndrome was born in the 18th century during the creation of the great European empires in Africa and Asia, when the West's technological and military primacy came to be viewed as a moral and anthropological supremacy.
But today is a multipolar world. The US is certainly still the biggest economy and a stronghold of military and technological power, but there are other great powers such as the European Union, India, Brazil and China.
Those who do not know history will be amazed at this idea: a multipolar world? Is it really possible or is this just the dream of "bleeding-heart liberals?" Actually, the world has almost always been multipolar, we just need to define our terms.
Always multipolar
In the first century of the common era, when the biggest land masses of the planet (Eurasia and the Americas) were isolated from each other, in the perception of an Asian or European person the world was, substantially, Eurasia, dominated by four superpowers: Rome, which ruled over a large part of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, the Arsacid Kings who reigned over a huge chunk of the Middle East, the Kushan Kings who presided over Central Asia and Northern India; and the Han Dynasty who ruled over China.
Seven hundred years later, the Emperor Charlemagne reigned over Western and Central Europe, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid was Lord of the Middle East and Central Asia; King Dharmapala controlled Northern India, and China was ruled by the Tang Dynasty.
In the 17th century, in a world finally unified by the caravels, trade and steel of Spanish conquistadores, there were at least three superpowers: the Spanish Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire, and several great powers, such as France, India's Moghul Empire and Iran's Safavid Empire.
In 1820, Western Europe and Russia combined had almost 190 million subjects and a US$200 billion GNP, China had 381 million inhabitants and a US$229 billion GNP, and India had a population of 209 million and an US$111 billion GNP.
China and India together exceeded Europe, Russia and the US both economically and demographically. Figures on India speak volumes about why Great Britain conquered the country.
In 1913, the figures were different: due to the industrial revolution and imperialism, Western Europe's GNP was four times bigger than China, while the GNP of Europe, Russia and the US was three times bigger than Asia's.
Nowadays, if we list countries by GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP), the richest country is still the US, but China is quickly catching up, followed by Japan and India. The world is returning to a multipolar dynamic. It's no surprise that history doesn't end.
(The author is director of the Committee on Geopolitical Studies, a network of young scholars and researchers based in Trient, Italy.)
In fact, by the end of the 1990s, many American and European experts imagined a world ruled only by the United States, Japan and Europe, with China, Russia and India stuck in the mud of poverty.
The West has often ignored the fact that China has been, for two millennia, one of the world's main players. The West is somehow affected by a dangerous syndrome - "Westcentrism."
This syndrome was born in the 18th century during the creation of the great European empires in Africa and Asia, when the West's technological and military primacy came to be viewed as a moral and anthropological supremacy.
But today is a multipolar world. The US is certainly still the biggest economy and a stronghold of military and technological power, but there are other great powers such as the European Union, India, Brazil and China.
Those who do not know history will be amazed at this idea: a multipolar world? Is it really possible or is this just the dream of "bleeding-heart liberals?" Actually, the world has almost always been multipolar, we just need to define our terms.
Always multipolar
In the first century of the common era, when the biggest land masses of the planet (Eurasia and the Americas) were isolated from each other, in the perception of an Asian or European person the world was, substantially, Eurasia, dominated by four superpowers: Rome, which ruled over a large part of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, the Arsacid Kings who reigned over a huge chunk of the Middle East, the Kushan Kings who presided over Central Asia and Northern India; and the Han Dynasty who ruled over China.
Seven hundred years later, the Emperor Charlemagne reigned over Western and Central Europe, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid was Lord of the Middle East and Central Asia; King Dharmapala controlled Northern India, and China was ruled by the Tang Dynasty.
In the 17th century, in a world finally unified by the caravels, trade and steel of Spanish conquistadores, there were at least three superpowers: the Spanish Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire, and several great powers, such as France, India's Moghul Empire and Iran's Safavid Empire.
In 1820, Western Europe and Russia combined had almost 190 million subjects and a US$200 billion GNP, China had 381 million inhabitants and a US$229 billion GNP, and India had a population of 209 million and an US$111 billion GNP.
China and India together exceeded Europe, Russia and the US both economically and demographically. Figures on India speak volumes about why Great Britain conquered the country.
In 1913, the figures were different: due to the industrial revolution and imperialism, Western Europe's GNP was four times bigger than China, while the GNP of Europe, Russia and the US was three times bigger than Asia's.
Nowadays, if we list countries by GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP), the richest country is still the US, but China is quickly catching up, followed by Japan and India. The world is returning to a multipolar dynamic. It's no surprise that history doesn't end.
(The author is director of the Committee on Geopolitical Studies, a network of young scholars and researchers based in Trient, Italy.)
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