The superpower game

This refers to the article, ‘Superpower’ (August 21) by Dr Farukh Saleem. It is a very good analysis of who really is a superpower today. The writer has compared the defence and nuclear capabilities and economic and trading strengths of the four major world military powers – the US, China, Russia and the UK. His conclusion is that, while China, Russia and the UK have strong defence forces, they lack the resources and naval strength of the US. The Americans’ military and trading strength is basically because of their naval superiority over the other three major world military powers.

I agree with the writer that the US is the sole superpower in the world because of its superiority in military forces and equipment and dominance of all sea routes. I would, however, like to add two more factors because of which the US has a clear edge over the rest of the world. One, the highly developed American state institutions. Secondly, through their lead in research and development they keep ahead of the rest of the world in the latest technology and science. Their constitutional guarantees of equality, justice and freedom benefit their own citizens but they also interfere in other countries. If the US keeps wasting its huge resource base on military adventurism and acting as the world’s policeman, China is going to catch up with it sooner than expected. The Chinese have highly developed technology, cheap labour and the biggest market for world trade. Their military is the biggest in numbers. All they have to do is work on improving their naval power and keep their current policy of no unnecessary interference in the affairs of other countries. The US had better watch out.

Zaheer Ahmed

Islamabad