The current world's affair is being dominated by two big "powers" - America and the European Union (EU). They are using different methods to impose their wills on other nations by manipulating their economy, culture, and technology. These tactics effectively affect other countries in negative and somehow positive ways.
The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 nations in Europe. It was established by six original countries in 1951 and in 1993, it was formally recognized as the "European Union". The older nations in the European Union had many colonies and natural resources throughout the world; this gave them tremendous power until World War I. After World War II, the nations in Europe again proceeded to unite with each other to create a powerful union to compete with the United States of America, the Soviet Union and asserted their power toward other nations all over the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism in Eastern Europe in 1989-1990, the European Union again became stronger against the weak and fragmented communist courtiers. In 2000, when Euro was introduced and used by twelve members, the European Union gained more economic power over other nations. The reason the European Union became dominating the world is the introduction of Euro in 2000. At that time, European nations united with each other economically and politically. In contrast, America began dominating the world after WWII. First, during World War II, America did not join in the war officially; America only sold the military weapons to the participants. American lands were not affected directly by the war, so America had a peaceful and secure condition to develop the economy and technology. Moreover, after World War II, because America became not only a "big creditor" of many countries but also a winner of the war, it received a large sum of money. After World War II, it was estimated that America gained about 114 billion dollars because of selling weapon; European nations in the same party with America owed America 41.571 billion dollars in weapon. Because of these initial reasons and some appropriate policies made by US government later, US soon develops rapidly and becomes dominating the world.
With the best conditions above, America and the European Union have been controlling the world's situation in different fields, respectively after World War II and 2000. How do they dominate the world? Which tactics do America and the European Union use to dominate other countries? First, America and the European Union dominated the world's economy mainly by currency. US Dollar and Euro are one of the most common currencies all over the world. About between 40 and 60 percent of international financial transactions are denominated in Dollars and the Dollar has also been the world's principal reserve currency (Global Political Economy.) Moreover, in 2013, US Dollar is till the currency of choice for most international transactions and about 44% of global currency trade is in US Dollar. Beside US Dollar, Euro is also one of the most common currencies used in the foreign exchange market. About thirty countries are currently using Euro as the country's currency. Because US Dollar and Euro are the most common currencies in the world, they are widely accepted in business, trading, and using all over the world. For example, Vietnam dong is not accepted by the big and international banks, so when Vietnamese people are in Italy, they must exchange their money to Euro or Dollar to use. Although Dollar is not Italian currencies, it is accepted to be used in Italy like Euro.
Using common currency to dominate the world's affairs has both positive and negative effects on other countries. The usage of Euro and US Dollar can reduce the time and service cost by exchanging money. It also links the economies of all countries together. As the result, the trade is promoted and some countries' economies are improved. For instance, Zimbabwe was notorious for "mind-boggling" inflation until 2009. By January 2009, the country was churning out bills worth 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, which were soon so worthless they would not buy a loaf of bread (The New York Times.) But since Zimbabwe began using US Dollar as its currency in 2009, the inflation was wiped out; Zimbabwe was saved from total economic collapse. Exporting in Vietnam is always performed in Dollar and Euro. In a half of January 2014, exporting turnover of Vietnam is estimated about 5.5 billion USD. Vietnam can trade with other countries not by Vietnam dong, but by US Dollar and Euro. In contrast, the usage of US Dollar and Euro also imposes negative effects. Because US and the European Union know that the more people use their currencies, the more value they are, US and the European Union create the dependency and influence on other countries' economies. Other nations depend on US and the European Union because they are places where money is printed. US and the European Union also control the economic policy-making of other countries when these countries need Dollar and Euro. In 1983, the Hong Kong Dollar was pegged to the US Dollar at a rate of 7.8 H.K Dollar = 1 US Dollar. It helped Hong Kong to stabilize its currency, but Hong Kong must "import" the loose American currency policy including changing interest rate like America even though its economy is totally different from American economy.
Second, America and the European Union use IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank as two biggest lending institutions to control the economy and the political system of other countries. The IMF and World Bank were both created at the end of World War II. The IMF's original mission was to promote steady growth and full employment by offering unconditional loans to economies, stabilizing exchange rates. However, pressured by America, the IMF starts offering loans based on strict condition known as Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) to control not only the exchange rate but also the economic-policy. The World Bank was established to fund the rebuilding of infrastructure in some nations after World War II. Nevertheless, from 1986 to 1980, it soon expanded to fund from infrastructure into social services and other factors. Both the IMF and the World Bank are dictated and directed by the government of world's developed countries. The "Group of 7" (US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan) hold more than 40% of the votes on the Boards of Directors of these institutions. (Ann-Louise Colgan, Hazardous to Health: The World Bank and IMF in Africa, Africa Action, April 18, 2002.) The president of the World Bank is traditionally an American and the managing director of the IMF is traditionally a European. The common devastating imposition of IMF and the World Bank on the debtors was SAPs. Some examples of SAPs include:
- Cutting expenditures on education, health care to free up funds for debt repayment.
- Tighten up the money supply to increase internal interest rates to whatever height needed to stabilize the value of local currency, devaluate currency.
- Remove restrictions on the inflow and outflow of international capital as well as restrictions on what foreign businesses and banks are allowed to buy, owe, and operate; control the price.
- Reduce state's role, privatization all or part of state-owned enterprises.
In 1999, IMF replaced SAPs with the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, but in fact, it is an extension of SAPs to enhance the global inequities.
These "laws" had negative effects on other countries and caused them into troubles. Some of the poor nations cannot meet the conditions of the IMF and the World Bank so they face with continual delays of debt relief. Because of some ridiculous requirements, some countries have been in social trouble when trying to meet them. For example, Oxfam International estimates that in the Philippines, IMF forced to cut in preventative medicines will result in 29000 deaths from malaria and an increase of 90000 in the number of untreated tuberculosis cases. The policies of the IMF and the World Bank imposed in African countries were never intended to promote development; in contrast, their policies were to keep these countries economically weak and dependent. African governments were forced to reduce the role of the state and cut back government expenditure. To conclude, both IMF and World Bank claim that the indebt countries will grow out of their debts; in fact, there is not one case proving this claim. The "logical" significance behind SAPs is that the IMF and the World Bank give developing countries loans and these countries luckily can pay back the original loan, but they will never pay back the interest of loans because they go bankrupt. As the result, the IMF and the World Bank can control the economies by their conditions. As Joseph Stiglitz, one of the most cited economists in the world, the former winner of the Nobel prize for economics and a professor at Columbia University, wrote in "What I learned at the world economic crisis. The Insider, The New Republic, April 17, 2000": "In theory, the fund supports democratic institutions in the nations it assists. In practice, it undermines the democratic process by imposing policies. Officially, of course, the IMF doesn't "impose" anything. It "negotiates" the conditions for receiving aid. But all the power in the negotiations is on one side-the IMF's-and the fund rarely allows sufficient time for broad consensus-building or even widespread consultations with either parliaments or civil society. Sometimes the IMF dispenses with the pretense of openness altogether and negotiates secret covenants." Last but not least, America and the European Union are two biggest import and export markets in the world. According to the American census bureau's website, the American import rate soared from 60 billion dollars per month in January 1994 to 191.3 billion dollars in December 2013; the American export rate rose from 55 billion dollars per month in January 1994 to 230 billion dollars in December 2013. Because America and some European nations are big and developed countries, they are lucrative markets for every company.
America and the European Union not only impose their power on other countries in economy, but they also dominate other nations' culture. First of all, America and the European Union use religious system, especially the churches, to control citizen in their own countries as well as other nations. The churches borrow the power of god to force the adherents to do any work. Christianity is the largest religion all over the world with 2.1 billion adherents, about 33% of the world's population. Some countries such as Vietnam, whose original religion is not Christianity, have a large percent of population following Christianity. Christian went to Vietnam in the 16th century by some priests from Spain and Portugal. Since then, Christianity has been developing and becomes the second most common religion in Vietnam; about 36% of Vietnamese population was Christian adherents. The churches are useful tools for America and the European Union to dominate other nations, especially during the war. For example, during Vietnamese war, France and America used churches system to entice an exodus of Vietnamese people, mainly Christian adherents from North to South in 1954. Northern priests told the adherents to go to South because the Blessed Virgin Mary moved to South and they should follow her. The behind reason of it is to reduce the power of Democratic Republic Vietnam, against Vietnamese communist. The story about this exodus is the same as the American documents of Edward Lansdale, an American intelligence working in the North of Vietnam at this time. Bernard Fall, a historian, commented about this exodus: "Exodus is a result of America and France's psychological warfare." Other aspects of culture are entertainment. Many kinds of music such as jazz, rock,... come from America and the European nations and spread to the whole world. Teenagers from all over the world become addictive to these kinds of music. They are also addictive to many kinds of films: action movies, romantic movies,... Films from America are always the best rating and selling in the movie theater. Films and music, beside entertainment, they depict a virtual and excellent condition of life in America and Europe. On the other hand, it is not true; many people in America and European nations are homeless. If you are rich and have knowledge, your life will be beautiful; otherwise, you will have a very poor life. The social network like Facebook or Twitter becomes an important part in every person's life. People check facebook, have new friends, update the information,... through the social network and Internet. Because of the invention of Internet, people are connected with each other and the world becomes flatter. In 2012, over one billion people used Facebook; 2.2 billion people communicated through email. Mark Zuckerberg - the founder of Facebook says: "Think about what people are doing on Facebook today. They're keeping up with their friends and family, but they're also building an image and identity for themselves, which in a sense is their brand. They're connecting with the audience that they want to connect to. It's almost a disadvantage if you're not on it now."
What about technology, another important major? America and the European Union have the strength in technology and industry. They have been creating a lot of significant machine and equipments used for different fields. Other nations such as Vietnam need to "import" and buy these equipments to use for manufacturing. For example, Vietnam must buy oil-drill machine from America to supply for the oil industry, drug from big companies in European Union and America, computers and high-tech devices from Apple,... These machine and technique are really important for manufacturing and living. Without them, we cannot provide better living condition for citizens, operate experiments, manufacture,... The machine and technique, however, are usually the old one. America and the European Union definitely do not sell the most modern devices but the cost for these old devices is still high. Imported devices are usually more expensive than the domestic one. Nevertheless, because Vietnam cannot produce the same devices, we need to import them from America and the European Union. The cost is totally decided by the importers - America and the European Union.
A big question that many people want to ask is that will America and the European Union continue their dominations in the future? Can any other countries surpass them? There are many opinions about this question. Some people think that they will; however, many people think that they won't. Nowadays, we can witness many countries that are developing rapidly and emerge as a phenomenon such as China and Japan. But can they surpass America and the European Union? China went from a weak country invaded from many other nations to one of the strongest country nowadays almost because of the open-policy of government in 1979. They spent about ten years developing to become a nation like today. In 2001, China joined WTO, which is a biggest step on the way to integrate with the world outside. At this time, US people thought that China needs about fifty years to be equal to US at this time. However, US people are definitely wrong. With the development of China and the wrong policies of US and the European Union, China nowadays surpasses America. The GDP of China now become nearer to American GDP: US: 16 trillion dollars, while China: 12 trillion dollars. But, US owed China 1.3 trillion dollars and it is in debt which cannot be paid back. Moreover, China has a much more efficient work force. China has the biggest population in the world and its citizens are willing to work harder than American people who only want to pay a lot and work little. Because of the big population, China is a biggest consumer market in some areas like cars, raw materials, food products,... On the other hand, US spent a lot of money of military. America used money for dominating many countries such as Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. According to the discussion about the US fiscal year 2009 Pentagon spending request, Congress has already approved nearly $700 billion in supplemental funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and an additional $126 billion in FY'08 war funding is still pending before the House and Senate. When US invaded Iraq, many other countries and people opposed this war. Even until now, US wants to attack Ukraine and Syria, but they cannot because of Russia and China. Before, many poor countries owed money from US and the European Union; however, currently, US and the EU come to China for money. China has been surpassing US and the EU in many industrial areas such as shipping, cars, aviation,... China today can do everything that US and the EU can do, so they do not have any advantages over China anymore. To conclude, these are some reasons and supports to prove that China has surpassed US and the European nations and will become dominating the world in the future, while US and the EU are in trouble and decline.
How about Japan? In my opinion, Japan only has little chance to surpass US and the EU. Japan becomes less competitive because of the older work force and the population decline. Japan electronic products lose their prior market because they are more expansive but have non-equal quality. In contrast, US products have the same quality, even more, but they are cheaper than Japan's. As the result, Japan progressively lose its champion in some industries such as electronic, cars, machinery,... The Japan economy, during 1980s, was even stable and did not grow. Japan would never reach the level of US and the EU right now.
To sum up, US and the EU have been dominating the world after World War II. They use different methods with different countries and the effects of these methods are not always positive. US and the EU impose their wills on a variety of areas ranging from economy to culture. However, will the trend of their dominations continue? This is a big and hard question, but I think that US and the EU are losing their unique positions more and more each day.
The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 nations in Europe. It was established by six original countries in 1951 and in 1993, it was formally recognized as the "European Union". The older nations in the European Union had many colonies and natural resources throughout the world; this gave them tremendous power until World War I. After World War II, the nations in Europe again proceeded to unite with each other to create a powerful union to compete with the United States of America, the Soviet Union and asserted their power toward other nations all over the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism in Eastern Europe in 1989-1990, the European Union again became stronger against the weak and fragmented communist courtiers. In 2000, when Euro was introduced and used by twelve members, the European Union gained more economic power over other nations. The reason the European Union became dominating the world is the introduction of Euro in 2000. At that time, European nations united with each other economically and politically. In contrast, America began dominating the world after WWII. First, during World War II, America did not join in the war officially; America only sold the military weapons to the participants. American lands were not affected directly by the war, so America had a peaceful and secure condition to develop the economy and technology. Moreover, after World War II, because America became not only a "big creditor" of many countries but also a winner of the war, it received a large sum of money. After World War II, it was estimated that America gained about 114 billion dollars because of selling weapon; European nations in the same party with America owed America 41.571 billion dollars in weapon. Because of these initial reasons and some appropriate policies made by US government later, US soon develops rapidly and becomes dominating the world.
With the best conditions above, America and the European Union have been controlling the world's situation in different fields, respectively after World War II and 2000. How do they dominate the world? Which tactics do America and the European Union use to dominate other countries? First, America and the European Union dominated the world's economy mainly by currency. US Dollar and Euro are one of the most common currencies all over the world. About between 40 and 60 percent of international financial transactions are denominated in Dollars and the Dollar has also been the world's principal reserve currency (Global Political Economy.) Moreover, in 2013, US Dollar is till the currency of choice for most international transactions and about 44% of global currency trade is in US Dollar. Beside US Dollar, Euro is also one of the most common currencies used in the foreign exchange market. About thirty countries are currently using Euro as the country's currency. Because US Dollar and Euro are the most common currencies in the world, they are widely accepted in business, trading, and using all over the world. For example, Vietnam dong is not accepted by the big and international banks, so when Vietnamese people are in Italy, they must exchange their money to Euro or Dollar to use. Although Dollar is not Italian currencies, it is accepted to be used in Italy like Euro.
Using common currency to dominate the world's affairs has both positive and negative effects on other countries. The usage of Euro and US Dollar can reduce the time and service cost by exchanging money. It also links the economies of all countries together. As the result, the trade is promoted and some countries' economies are improved. For instance, Zimbabwe was notorious for "mind-boggling" inflation until 2009. By January 2009, the country was churning out bills worth 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, which were soon so worthless they would not buy a loaf of bread (The New York Times.) But since Zimbabwe began using US Dollar as its currency in 2009, the inflation was wiped out; Zimbabwe was saved from total economic collapse. Exporting in Vietnam is always performed in Dollar and Euro. In a half of January 2014, exporting turnover of Vietnam is estimated about 5.5 billion USD. Vietnam can trade with other countries not by Vietnam dong, but by US Dollar and Euro. In contrast, the usage of US Dollar and Euro also imposes negative effects. Because US and the European Union know that the more people use their currencies, the more value they are, US and the European Union create the dependency and influence on other countries' economies. Other nations depend on US and the European Union because they are places where money is printed. US and the European Union also control the economic policy-making of other countries when these countries need Dollar and Euro. In 1983, the Hong Kong Dollar was pegged to the US Dollar at a rate of 7.8 H.K Dollar = 1 US Dollar. It helped Hong Kong to stabilize its currency, but Hong Kong must "import" the loose American currency policy including changing interest rate like America even though its economy is totally different from American economy.
Second, America and the European Union use IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank as two biggest lending institutions to control the economy and the political system of other countries. The IMF and World Bank were both created at the end of World War II. The IMF's original mission was to promote steady growth and full employment by offering unconditional loans to economies, stabilizing exchange rates. However, pressured by America, the IMF starts offering loans based on strict condition known as Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) to control not only the exchange rate but also the economic-policy. The World Bank was established to fund the rebuilding of infrastructure in some nations after World War II. Nevertheless, from 1986 to 1980, it soon expanded to fund from infrastructure into social services and other factors. Both the IMF and the World Bank are dictated and directed by the government of world's developed countries. The "Group of 7" (US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan) hold more than 40% of the votes on the Boards of Directors of these institutions. (Ann-Louise Colgan, Hazardous to Health: The World Bank and IMF in Africa, Africa Action, April 18, 2002.) The president of the World Bank is traditionally an American and the managing director of the IMF is traditionally a European. The common devastating imposition of IMF and the World Bank on the debtors was SAPs. Some examples of SAPs include:
- Cutting expenditures on education, health care to free up funds for debt repayment.
- Tighten up the money supply to increase internal interest rates to whatever height needed to stabilize the value of local currency, devaluate currency.
- Remove restrictions on the inflow and outflow of international capital as well as restrictions on what foreign businesses and banks are allowed to buy, owe, and operate; control the price.
- Reduce state's role, privatization all or part of state-owned enterprises.
In 1999, IMF replaced SAPs with the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, but in fact, it is an extension of SAPs to enhance the global inequities.
These "laws" had negative effects on other countries and caused them into troubles. Some of the poor nations cannot meet the conditions of the IMF and the World Bank so they face with continual delays of debt relief. Because of some ridiculous requirements, some countries have been in social trouble when trying to meet them. For example, Oxfam International estimates that in the Philippines, IMF forced to cut in preventative medicines will result in 29000 deaths from malaria and an increase of 90000 in the number of untreated tuberculosis cases. The policies of the IMF and the World Bank imposed in African countries were never intended to promote development; in contrast, their policies were to keep these countries economically weak and dependent. African governments were forced to reduce the role of the state and cut back government expenditure. To conclude, both IMF and World Bank claim that the indebt countries will grow out of their debts; in fact, there is not one case proving this claim. The "logical" significance behind SAPs is that the IMF and the World Bank give developing countries loans and these countries luckily can pay back the original loan, but they will never pay back the interest of loans because they go bankrupt. As the result, the IMF and the World Bank can control the economies by their conditions. As Joseph Stiglitz, one of the most cited economists in the world, the former winner of the Nobel prize for economics and a professor at Columbia University, wrote in "What I learned at the world economic crisis. The Insider, The New Republic, April 17, 2000": "In theory, the fund supports democratic institutions in the nations it assists. In practice, it undermines the democratic process by imposing policies. Officially, of course, the IMF doesn't "impose" anything. It "negotiates" the conditions for receiving aid. But all the power in the negotiations is on one side-the IMF's-and the fund rarely allows sufficient time for broad consensus-building or even widespread consultations with either parliaments or civil society. Sometimes the IMF dispenses with the pretense of openness altogether and negotiates secret covenants." Last but not least, America and the European Union are two biggest import and export markets in the world. According to the American census bureau's website, the American import rate soared from 60 billion dollars per month in January 1994 to 191.3 billion dollars in December 2013; the American export rate rose from 55 billion dollars per month in January 1994 to 230 billion dollars in December 2013. Because America and some European nations are big and developed countries, they are lucrative markets for every company.
America and the European Union not only impose their power on other countries in economy, but they also dominate other nations' culture. First of all, America and the European Union use religious system, especially the churches, to control citizen in their own countries as well as other nations. The churches borrow the power of god to force the adherents to do any work. Christianity is the largest religion all over the world with 2.1 billion adherents, about 33% of the world's population. Some countries such as Vietnam, whose original religion is not Christianity, have a large percent of population following Christianity. Christian went to Vietnam in the 16th century by some priests from Spain and Portugal. Since then, Christianity has been developing and becomes the second most common religion in Vietnam; about 36% of Vietnamese population was Christian adherents. The churches are useful tools for America and the European Union to dominate other nations, especially during the war. For example, during Vietnamese war, France and America used churches system to entice an exodus of Vietnamese people, mainly Christian adherents from North to South in 1954. Northern priests told the adherents to go to South because the Blessed Virgin Mary moved to South and they should follow her. The behind reason of it is to reduce the power of Democratic Republic Vietnam, against Vietnamese communist. The story about this exodus is the same as the American documents of Edward Lansdale, an American intelligence working in the North of Vietnam at this time. Bernard Fall, a historian, commented about this exodus: "Exodus is a result of America and France's psychological warfare." Other aspects of culture are entertainment. Many kinds of music such as jazz, rock,... come from America and the European nations and spread to the whole world. Teenagers from all over the world become addictive to these kinds of music. They are also addictive to many kinds of films: action movies, romantic movies,... Films from America are always the best rating and selling in the movie theater. Films and music, beside entertainment, they depict a virtual and excellent condition of life in America and Europe. On the other hand, it is not true; many people in America and European nations are homeless. If you are rich and have knowledge, your life will be beautiful; otherwise, you will have a very poor life. The social network like Facebook or Twitter becomes an important part in every person's life. People check facebook, have new friends, update the information,... through the social network and Internet. Because of the invention of Internet, people are connected with each other and the world becomes flatter. In 2012, over one billion people used Facebook; 2.2 billion people communicated through email. Mark Zuckerberg - the founder of Facebook says: "Think about what people are doing on Facebook today. They're keeping up with their friends and family, but they're also building an image and identity for themselves, which in a sense is their brand. They're connecting with the audience that they want to connect to. It's almost a disadvantage if you're not on it now."
What about technology, another important major? America and the European Union have the strength in technology and industry. They have been creating a lot of significant machine and equipments used for different fields. Other nations such as Vietnam need to "import" and buy these equipments to use for manufacturing. For example, Vietnam must buy oil-drill machine from America to supply for the oil industry, drug from big companies in European Union and America, computers and high-tech devices from Apple,... These machine and technique are really important for manufacturing and living. Without them, we cannot provide better living condition for citizens, operate experiments, manufacture,... The machine and technique, however, are usually the old one. America and the European Union definitely do not sell the most modern devices but the cost for these old devices is still high. Imported devices are usually more expensive than the domestic one. Nevertheless, because Vietnam cannot produce the same devices, we need to import them from America and the European Union. The cost is totally decided by the importers - America and the European Union.
A big question that many people want to ask is that will America and the European Union continue their dominations in the future? Can any other countries surpass them? There are many opinions about this question. Some people think that they will; however, many people think that they won't. Nowadays, we can witness many countries that are developing rapidly and emerge as a phenomenon such as China and Japan. But can they surpass America and the European Union? China went from a weak country invaded from many other nations to one of the strongest country nowadays almost because of the open-policy of government in 1979. They spent about ten years developing to become a nation like today. In 2001, China joined WTO, which is a biggest step on the way to integrate with the world outside. At this time, US people thought that China needs about fifty years to be equal to US at this time. However, US people are definitely wrong. With the development of China and the wrong policies of US and the European Union, China nowadays surpasses America. The GDP of China now become nearer to American GDP: US: 16 trillion dollars, while China: 12 trillion dollars. But, US owed China 1.3 trillion dollars and it is in debt which cannot be paid back. Moreover, China has a much more efficient work force. China has the biggest population in the world and its citizens are willing to work harder than American people who only want to pay a lot and work little. Because of the big population, China is a biggest consumer market in some areas like cars, raw materials, food products,... On the other hand, US spent a lot of money of military. America used money for dominating many countries such as Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. According to the discussion about the US fiscal year 2009 Pentagon spending request, Congress has already approved nearly $700 billion in supplemental funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and an additional $126 billion in FY'08 war funding is still pending before the House and Senate. When US invaded Iraq, many other countries and people opposed this war. Even until now, US wants to attack Ukraine and Syria, but they cannot because of Russia and China. Before, many poor countries owed money from US and the European Union; however, currently, US and the EU come to China for money. China has been surpassing US and the EU in many industrial areas such as shipping, cars, aviation,... China today can do everything that US and the EU can do, so they do not have any advantages over China anymore. To conclude, these are some reasons and supports to prove that China has surpassed US and the European nations and will become dominating the world in the future, while US and the EU are in trouble and decline.
How about Japan? In my opinion, Japan only has little chance to surpass US and the EU. Japan becomes less competitive because of the older work force and the population decline. Japan electronic products lose their prior market because they are more expansive but have non-equal quality. In contrast, US products have the same quality, even more, but they are cheaper than Japan's. As the result, Japan progressively lose its champion in some industries such as electronic, cars, machinery,... The Japan economy, during 1980s, was even stable and did not grow. Japan would never reach the level of US and the EU right now.
To sum up, US and the EU have been dominating the world after World War II. They use different methods with different countries and the effects of these methods are not always positive. US and the EU impose their wills on a variety of areas ranging from economy to culture. However, will the trend of their dominations continue? This is a big and hard question, but I think that US and the EU are losing their unique positions more and more each day.