The New World Powers

A lot has been made of emerging countries as major players in global business, but which of these will be likely to succeed and become international super powers?

The first of the new speculated super powers is China, which has long been a manufacturing powerhouse. Today, however the capital city of Shanghai is a huge metropolis and a world financial hub of advanced technologies and skyscrapers.

Even so, the vast majority of China is not as developed, and areas still suffer from disease and poverty. The “One Child Policy” in place for over 30 years gives additional financial benefits to families who only have one child, as an incentive to stop the population increase.

The long term effect is that China has an ageing workforce, with the long-term result being that in approximately 20 year’s time when the last of the heavily-populated age groups reach retirement, China will have a greatly reduced workforce which could have a large detrimental effect on productivity.

Brazil and Russia are two countries in similar scenarios. Blessed with abundances of resources, mainly coffee for Brazil and natural gas for Russia- it is clear that, if used and exported effectively they can be of great benefit to these nations.

However, what holds back these potential super powers is that, thanks to widespread corruption the fruits of the labour will often be unevenly spread and those at the top of the hierarchies will continue to benefit, whilst the poor majority still suffer.

Another country looking to join the international super powers is India. India’s major strengths lie not in trading, but in the provision of services. Education has been invested in to ensure that talented individuals make the most of their gifts. This has been seen across global business, with the rise in skilled call centre staff particularly prominent across Western society.

Arguably the best placed to be a super power for the foreseeable future, India still fights many infrastructural problems and in rural areas, high dependency on farming can often lead to widespread famine and poverty when weather conditions are not favourable.

Each of these nations should have a bright future in the ever-changing world of global business. We can expect to see a varied range of new international super powers reigning supreme across the world.