WHILE the unpredictable consequences of the crash of the American economy, which is inextricably linked with the economies of all Western powers, are awaited with gloom, the world looks at Russia and China to spearhead an alternative world order and lift it from the present financial chaos.
The crash of the US-dominated economic order almost coincided with the show of strength by Russia in Georgia over the issue of South Ossetia. The Russian conduct was reminiscent of the days when none of the Soviet republics or the East European states had the grit to defy the Russian diktat.
The resolve to challenge the US was, seemingly, evident when Russia announced its test-firing of a long-range Topol intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwest Russia at a target thousands of kilometers away in the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was present at the launch of the missile that boasted to have the capacity to evade the planned US defense shield system in Europe.
As part of the show of strength, two submarines in the Okhotsk Sea near Japan and the Barents Sea launched ballistic missiles that reached targets in northern Russia and Kamchatka.
The Plesetsk test launch, which confirmed the viability of the Topol rocket with a range of 10,000 kilometers, is part of Russia’s response to the US plan to install a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.
The standoff between Russia and the West has also spilled over to the Iranian issue. According to a recent report in The Sunday Telegraph, Russia would supply an advanced missile defense system to Iran. Americans fear that if the NATO offered membership to Georgia and Ukraine, the Kremlin would supply Tehran with sophisticated S300 missile technology, which has the potential to hit 100 targets 75 miles away at the same time.
Russia’s determination to redraw the geopolitical line in the Caucuses has an alarming effect not only on the neighboring countries, but on the entire European continent and forced them make a unified stand.
On the other hand, the rapid economic growth of the People’s Republic of China also poses a serious threat to the US supremacy in the global economy. The International Monetary Fund in its half-yearly review has already predicted the Chinese superiority over the United States in terms of the volume of international trade in 2008.
The report said that though the difference between the two economies are still great, Chinese economy made firm and rapid strides and has already gone past the United Kingdom to occupy the fourth position in world economy.
The IMF also argued that a strengthened Chinese currency could aid efforts to address global imbalances such as a large US current account deficit. While China’s GDP stood at $3,249 trillion in 2007 it owns $300 billion of US Treasury bonds.
China has also showed its prowess in the space technology. In response to the emerging nuclear cooperation between the US and India, China launched a spacecraft with cosmonauts who would undertake experiments in space walking.
One wonders if Russia and China would forget their differences to clinch the world leadership from the faltering United States.
