kalu_miah's new world order, a road map for the future

[kalu_miah]

My dear,
I said before that China will seek to cause disunity and break the target closer links of Asean. So I'm not surprised with the issue occurred in Phnom Penh recently.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/180755-geopolitics-asean-region.html#post2954375

ASEAN operates on consensus, so there is no difference influence caused by richest countries as Singapore or poorest countries like Cambodia. The problem is the poor countries are more likely to be exploited by external powers.

I dont know now the relationship between Japan or Korea with each ASEAN country is what levels, but the relationship between the two countries with Vietnam now very close and trusted, especially the relations of Vietnam - Japan. We support for closer relations between ASEAN and Japan, South Korea.

When the world was in the period of misty, we had to fight against China to get out of "vassal state". Currently in the civilized world, there is no reason why we accepted back to a "vassal" of China. And I think most of the other ASEAN countries also think so. They do not want to break relations with China because of their mutual benefits. That is understandable and acceptable.

However, should never expect that China will support the solidarity ASEAN to unify. It was a huge mistake.

Dear friend, I understand your frustration.

I found some Confucius quotes here:
Confucius Quotes - BrainyQuote

Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

So I will always emphasize the importance to maintain moral high ground for the long term, rather than get tempted to use force and coercion.

I think eventually current Chinese leadership will come round to realize that without having a strong independent neighborhood, a weak fragmented neighborhood will always invite outside powers to meddle. Here is another relevant Confucious quote from above site:

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Read more at Confucius Quotes - BrainyQuote

For Asia to rise above the West, we will need a lot of wisdom even surpassing the West, something all of us sorely lack it seems. Hopefully some brilliant minds will catch it through reflection, rather than going through the bitter path of experience.

 

[LetsGetRowdy]

For Asia to rise above the West, we will need a lot of wisdom even surpassing the West, something all of us sorely lack it seems. Hopefully some brilliant minds will catch it through reflection, rather than going through the bitter path of experience.

Asia can not rise unless western forces are completely kicked out by a powerful Asian country. Currently, most Asian countries are highly influenced and even to say controlled by the US, if the status quo doesn't change, there is absolutely no way for Asia to rise. Sometimes it is absolutely necessary to use force, which I believe the US is getting ready for since China will not accept its number one enemy in its neighborhood and will challenge the US in the foreseeable future for control of our own backyard. US influenced/dominated-Asian countries are used to Western domination and are very supportive of the West/US, so they will side with the US in containing Asia (we know who these countries are). But after the smoke has cleared, the winner (China) will help rebuild Asia and usher in an age of Asian renaissance.

If China seems to be overpowered, then we will initiate something called the 'American Doctrine' (might be worded differently) which is to use nuclear weapons and take the whole world down with it (what Americans would do if they were about to lose). So it's either China comes out on top or the whole world goes down with it.

 

[Battle of Bach Dang River]

Dear friend, I understand your frustration.

I found some Confucius quotes here:
Confucius Quotes - BrainyQuote



So I will always emphasize the importance to maintain moral high ground for the long term, rather than get tempted to use force and coercion.

I think eventually current Chinese leadership will come round to realize that without having a strong independent neighborhood, a weak fragmented neighborhood will always invite outside powers to meddle. Here is another relevant Confucious quote from above site:

Read more at Confucius Quotes - BrainyQuote

For Asia to rise above the West, we will need a lot of wisdom even surpassing the West, something all of us sorely lack it seems. Hopefully some brilliant minds will catch it through reflection, rather than going through the bitter path of experience.

I am very surprised when you say I was disappointed.
The fact that I've always seen for the right things and until now they are still correct. For example, as I said before, should never expect that China will help ASEAN solidarity and unity. Instead, it would be beneficial to make ASEAN discord. It is just disappointing after so much expectation on something.

To proceed to ASEAN+ (Japan, South Korea) as you have pointed out, the relationship between the two countries to each ASEAN countries need to be raised, before thinking other things. This, Vietnam is doing well. Obviously we're not just talking.

Today, young Vietnamese know very little about Confucius.
I only heard a few sentences including the sentence that you quoted I have heard before, and I enjoyed it.
Clearly, today the Chinese government is now run the contrary the teachings of Confucius. China was invaded by the others, and the Chinese hate that, but today they want to do that with other countries around the SCS.

Doesn't China do to follow the teachings of Confucius?

 

[Battle of Bach Dang River]

Asia can not rise unless western forces are completely kicked out by a powerful Asian country. Currently, most Asian countries are highly influenced and even to say controlled by the US, if the status quo doesn't change, there is absolutely no way for Asia to rise. Sometimes it is absolutely necessary to use force, which I believe the US is getting ready for since China will not accept its number one enemy in its neighborhood and will challenge the US in the foreseeable future for control of our own backyard. US influenced/dominated-Asian countries are used to Western domination and are very supportive of the West/US, so they will side with the US in containing Asia (we know who these countries are). But after the smoke has cleared, the winner (China) will help rebuild Asia and usher in an age of Asian renaissance.

If China seems to be overpowered, then we will initiate something called the 'American Doctrine' (might be worded differently) which is to use nuclear weapons and take the whole world down with it (what Americans would do if they were about to lose). So it's either China comes out on top or the whole world goes down with it.

Well, not because I like the west but we should recognize what is right.
Except for Japan, and possibly South Korea, and some other countries, most developing Asian countries rely on the technical and technology investment, finance, equipment, base-machines ... from the West.
It is most visible if the west would have withdrawn, there are millions of unemployed in China, other Asian countries too.
I am using Windows, Android.... operating system of the West, and you?

The only one certainty is that Asia will be confident to growing water rice without the west.

 

[Developereo]

Although I was skeptical of this thread's premise at first, perhaps there is some validity. Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread, so I apologize if the following has already been covered.

Both the US and the EU exemplify the scenario where a powerful political entity, or entities, sacrifice their sovereignty to a greater union. In exchange, these powerful entities gain strong influence over their weaker neighbors and neutralize the influence of outsiders.

In the US, these powerhouse states are CA, NY, TX, etc., which tend to dominate US politics. In Europe, the EU is basically a Franco-German power-play. In both these cases, the powerhouses would be better off economically by themselves, but they sacrifice that advantage for the political leverage the union gives them over their neighbors.

Given this precedent, it is possible that some rising powerhouses would be willing to make economic sacrifices in order to entice weaker neighbors into a strong union to ward off external influences.

 

[kalu_miah]

I am very surprised when you say I was disappointed.
The fact that I've always seen for the right things and until now they are still correct. For example, as I said before, should never expect that China will help ASEAN solidarity and unity. Instead, it would be beneficial to make ASEAN discord. It is just disappointing after so much expectation on something.

To proceed to ASEAN+ (Japan, South Korea) as you have pointed out, the relationship between the two countries to each ASEAN countries need to be raised, before thinking other things. This, Vietnam is doing well. Obviously we're not just talking.

Today, young Vietnamese know very little about Confucius.
I only heard a few sentences including the sentence that you quoted I have heard before, and I enjoyed it.
Clearly, today the Chinese government is now run the contrary the teachings of Confucius. China was invaded by the others, and the Chinese hate that, but today they want to do that with other countries around the SCS.

Doesn't China do to follow the teachings of Confucius?

Sorry for misunderstanding your feelings. I remember you did say earlier that China was going to use divide and rule policy on ASEAN, and this is what is happening. So you already expected this to happen and was not surprised that it happened like this.

I have been thinking about the geopolitics of the Asian landmass lately. Here is my latest thinking:

1. There are four main blocks in Asia: China+Taiwan, ASEAN+, India, Eurasia+

China: Nuclear power, aspiring to beat US as no. 1 economic and military power
Taiwan: US protectorate, but getting more entangled with Chinese economy

ASEAN+: Japan and South Korea under questionable US protection, rest under no nuke protection umbrella and hence are vulnerable

India: Nuclear power, hopes to increase influence in the neighborhood taking opportunity of fragmentation

Eurasia+: Russia and Pakistan are Nuclear powers, Iran is trying to become one, Afghanistan has no protection, but other former Soviet states might be or have the potential to be under Russian protection

2. For Asia to rise, we need peace, to ensure peace, we need balance of power. Currently we have a glaring imbalance that is staring at us in the face and its been there for a while it seems. I am sure other people have noticed it and talked about it before.

3. The big imbalance among all 4 regions, is that ASEAN+ have no nukes, while all three other regions have it. If Japan was not totally broken by the US, I am sure Japan would be a nuclear power today. Even now both Japan and South Korea can have nukes in a matter of months or maximum a few years time, together with delivery tech, but it is not happening because of a supposed US umbrella protection that may or may not materialize at the time of need. So in a way US involvement in this region has resulted in this imbalance.

4. What I recommend for ASEAN+ region is the following:

- bring back the US base in the Philippines
- enhance the bases in South Korea and Okinawa
- integrate ASEAN+ economically and militarity under Japanese and Korean management, and after 1-2 decades
- develop nukes in the following order, after developing nuclear power generation:
* 1st stage - Indonesia
* 2nd stage - Japan and Korea
* 3rd stage - Vietnam, Philippines and others who have achieved a developed nuclear industry
- develop delivery system and nuclear triad to ensure deterrence:
Nuclear triad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5. At present time, China is simply taking advantage of this imbalance. US may get involved to an extent for treaty obligations only in case of direct attack and invasion on mainlands of Japan, South Korea and probably Philippines, the US I believe will not get involved just to settle disputes about sea atolls and small islands, as many others have pointed out.

6. So for ASEAN+ nations, it will not be good to get into open conflict with China, as the result may not be good. Although Vietnam has a history of withstanding invasions and expelling them in the end, we should keep in mind, this was in the earlier era where ground forces were important and Vietnam's terrain and the familiarity of local people of this terrain was a major advantage, to sum it up, it was mainly home field advantage, where the entire local population are against invaders and provided logistics support as needed.

7. Fighting to secure atolls or small islands in the middle of the ocean is a completely different matter and Chinese Navy and air force have distinct advantages against all other nations in the neighborhood. Only nation that can balance this force at this moment is the US, which may consider securing these for allied or friendly nations a risk that may not be worth antagonizing China. But returning of the US base in the Philippines may increase the level of deterrence, where there is none at the moment.

8. International arbitration under UN bodies would be the best course of action for ASEAN+ nations to settle these atoll and small island issues, perhaps under some shared use arrangement. If it is not possible then ASEAN+ nations must accept the stronger party's imposed solutions temporarily, work to achieve balance as described above and only after achieving balance or superiority, will it be possible to revisit these issues for a more just and equitable solution.

 

[Battle of Bach Dang River]

My friend,
I think when the US cannot afford to defend Japan and South Korea, the two countries should build nuke toys to protect themselves. Now is the time for Japan and Korea considered that before it's too late.

ASEAN has its own problems before thinking of the larger links. ASEAN itself is also vulnerable because it is a collection of small countries or countries small and poor. Moreover, not easy to all ASEAN countries share a common idea.
And by extension, the other region too, unless they have reached a common ground on economic, cultural and intellectual of the people ... and accept the leadership of some of the largest countries [like EU].

The withdraw of the U.S from Subic Bay in 1992 and Russia's from Cam Ranh Bay in 2002 left a power vacuum deadly in the SCS . So PH should allows to reopen US bases in the Subic, I totally agree with you on this point.

With the economic strength of a country nearly 1.4 billion people, China is not only powerful enough to crush SCS but also be able to crush both the VN and PH... if it wants. But the question is why is it doing so, What basis did it rely on to attack on SCS, and it can afford to rewrite the laws and order of the world?

ASEAN region is very difficult to make the nuke toys, because it is hindered each other by the members themselves within ASEAN, then hindering of the surrounding powers as the US, India, China, Australia ...

Unfortunate for Vietnam, our country has position to bar the ​​expansionist ideology to south of the Chinese for thousands of years. So we always had to fight against the invasion of China. If we are cowards, perhaps now you see a other of Tibet, Xinjiang...
Even the Vietnam War, the root causes were the clash of two blocks of ideological capitalist and socialist, in which the fear of the superpower U.S about the expansion of communist in China to the ASEAN region.

But for whatever reason, the Vietnamese people will stand up to defend the territory, territorial waters and islands of our country. We are always ready to sacrifice to defend our country against all invaders.
If we have a slave thought, perhaps now we are a province of China and no longer fear the invasion!?

 

[kalu_miah]

My friend,
I think when the US cannot afford to defend Japan and South Korea, the two countries should build nuke toys to protect themselves. Now is the time for Japan and Korea considered that before it's too late.

ASEAN has its own problems before thinking of the larger links. ASEAN itself is also vulnerable because it is a collection of small countries or countries small and poor. Moreover, not easy to all ASEAN countries share a common idea.
And by extension, the other region too, unless they have reached a common ground on economic, cultural and intellectual of the people ... and accept the leadership of some of the largest countries [like EU].

The withdraw of the U.S from Subic Bay in 1992 and Russia's from Cam Ranh Bay in 2002 left a power vacuum deadly in the SCS . So PH should allows to reopen US bases in the Subic, I totally agree with you on this point.

With the economic strength of a country nearly 1.4 billion people, China is not only powerful enough to crush SCS but also be able to crush both the VN and PH... if it wants. But the question is why is it doing so, What basis did it rely on to attack on SCS, and it can afford to rewrite the laws and order of the world?

ASEAN region is very difficult to make the nuke toys, because it is hindered each other by the members themselves within ASEAN, then hindering of the surrounding powers as the US, India, China, Australia ...

Unfortunate for Vietnam, our country has position to bar the ​​expansionist ideology to south of the Chinese for thousands of years. So we always had to fight against the invasion of China. If we are cowards, perhaps now you see a other of Tibet, Xinjiang...
Even the Vietnam War, the root causes were the clash of two blocks of ideological capitalist and socialist, in which the fear of the superpower U.S about the expansion of communist in China to the ASEAN region.

But for whatever reason, the Vietnamese people will stand up to defend the territory, territorial waters and islands of our country. We are always ready to sacrifice to defend our country against all invaders.
If we have a slave thought, perhaps now we are a province of China and no longer fear the invasion!?

My friend, sorry for my late reply.

The economic, military and technology gap between US and China is getting smaller every year, so at some point 2020-2030) the US will be unable to protect Japan and South Korea, so far from their land, on the other side of an ocean, despite having bases there. This situation may change if Russia decides to join EU and NATO, which does not seem likely in 2-3 decades.

Japan and Korea need to make immediate moves about their future. The reason I suggested developing the first ASEAN+ nuke in Indonesia, is because, I think it will be too risky to develop it in either Japan or Korea, as both have small landmass and densely populated cities which could be under Chinese threat and are very close to China. Indonesia is a far away country with large landmass, and also it has many isolated islands where this development can be done with less risk. Indonesia being a large Muslim country and having large overseas Chinese population, these I believe are additional shield of protection from Chinese attack to destroy nuke facilities.

ASEAN integration is moving at a steady pace, despite problems in the member states. But the biggest drawback of ASEAN is that there is no mature industrial base in any of the 10 countries. Only Japan and Korea can provide these industrial bases, which I believe can catapult ASEAN to a different level (ASEAN+), but this will be opposed by all powers of the world - USA, China, Russia, India, because they do not want one more world power to emerge which will encroach on their sphere of influence and interest. This is because most human beings in the world are extremely short sighted and cannot see beyond a few years and beyond their own selfish interest. They cannot understand that regional unions like this will be instrumental for the world's future to ensure more balance of power which will result in increasing peace and stability, reducing the chances of conflict and war.

I did not know the history of Cam Ranh Bay, just read it up from wiki. Yes, you are correct, the withdrawal of US from Subic and Soviet from Cam Ranh did create a power vacuum in SCS area, which has contributed to the current Chinese assertive moves. Geopolitics of the world and region evolve slowly over decades, so people miss the movement in the bigger picture sometimes. Russia may not come back to Cam Ranh, but may be it could be given to India, South Korea and Japan? I am glad that both of us agree on the issue of US coming back to Subic.

About international law, there is only one, its called might is right. But 1.4 billion Chinese are still not as powerful as rest of Humanity or rest of Asians put together (all countries in ASEAN+, Eurasia+, GCC+, Turkey and India), so they are not unrestrained, they have to practice some level of moral highground to maintain the legitimacy of their position. Too much agressive use of force may jeopardize their long term leadership position, because they will not be trusted or liked as a result. The case of US in their backyard in South/Central America, in Muslim world and in South East Asia after 1947 is a perfect example of this pheonomenon.

Tibet and Xinjiang, I think, are not comparable to Vietnam, mainly because their population is much smaller. Also the Soviet Russians or the US and did not consider these two areas as their core interest and accepted Chinese takeover of these two areas in 1950's.

I agree with you that the conflict in Vietnam was the cold war era ideological conflict that continued on from Korean peninsula.

I appreciate and admire bravery of Vietnamese people, but if you study all great generals and the history of warrior nations such as Mongols, every one of them were shrewd strategists and won their wars using superior strategy as well as tactics, while using bravery when it fits the overall strategy. When you are faced with a numerically superior and more powerful enemy, then we need to get creative and find new and innovative solutions to a problem. My ideas presented in this thread is one example of such a strategy.

Since our existence as human beings from Hunting & Gathering stage we human being have been at war with each other, mainly over resources:
http://www.panzertruppen.org/2012/politica/009.pdf

My view of every nation is that we are a band of warrior tribes fighting for resources on the surface of the planet, just like clan of Chimpanzee's fighting for fruit trees. In Westphalian nation states we confined ourselves to national borders, but it does not change the fact that we are at perpetual war, only resting and rearming and getting ready for the next war.

If we can bring these nations into some equal blocs of at least or close to a billion each, my vision is that we will have some level of stability, till eventually the entire world population becomes more mixed, ethnic/linguistic/religious nationalism reduces, making it possible for greater Unions between these regional unions and eventually a global union. But these are too much into the future, may be centuries, so not for us to worry about. But the regional union will be a first step towards that inevitable direction, which is a step that will help greatly the situation of us smaller nations.

 

[kalu_miah]

Although I was skeptical of this thread's premise at first, perhaps there is some validity. Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread, so I apologize if the following has already been covered.

Both the US and the EU exemplify the scenario where a powerful political entity, or entities, sacrifice their sovereignty to a greater union. In exchange, these powerful entities gain strong influence over their weaker neighbors and neutralize the influence of outsiders.

In the US, these powerhouse states are CA, NY, TX, etc., which tend to dominate US politics. In Europe, the EU is basically a Franco-German power-play. In both these cases, the powerhouses would be better off economically by themselves, but they sacrifice that advantage for the political leverage the union gives them over their neighbors.

Given this precedent, it is possible that some rising powerhouses would be willing to make economic sacrifices in order to entice weaker neighbors into a strong union to ward off external influences.

Glad that you see some merit in the idea of regionalism.

If we consider nations on the planets surface are at perpetual war with each other over resources, and essentially each nation in their entirety are like a warring unit, then it would make sense to have a bigger nation. This is the reason large nations such as China and India seem to have the upper hand, despite their individual short comings, compared to individuals in smaller nations. It is just like in the battle field, the bigger army usually wins, provided that both have access to more or less similar technology and tactical/strategic knowledge base.

So it is in the interest of CA, NY or TX to stay within United States, none will think of secession. Same is the case with Germany, France and UK in EU. Eurozone and a common currency may have temporary set back, as I believe this common currency Euro was introduced too soon, before sufficient political, economic, monetary and budgetary integration of EU states. But the underlying idea of regionalism is sound, simple, elegant and effective. Essentially it is the old idea of empires, old wine in a new bottle as they say, but this time it is a populist empire, by a popular democratic demand from member nations of a region, rather than one nation dominating over others.

I would appreciate if you could also let me know your opinion about Pakistan's future direction and how it may or may not get involved in some regional effort. I have included Pakistan in my self designated Eurasia+ region and have a separate thread for that, I would appreciate if you could contribute in that thread with some response to the posts I made there:
http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/180767-geopolitics-eurasia-region.html

 

[kalu_miah]

China will be the hegemon of Asia.
Russia will be the hegemon of Europe.
USA will be the hegemon of America.

This is how the new world order will look like.

All of the above are possible. My vision is that the regional blocks I proposed will help this "hegemony" order:

China - ASEAN+, India, GCC+Central Asia
Russia - EU, Russian speaking countries
USA - Canada, LAU (Latin American Union)

But the above is not the only possible scenario, there are infinite possibilities and scenario. Rather than the above, one of the following might be more likely:

A.

1. China+Taiwan (China+, leading state: PRC)
2. India+Nepal+Bhutan (India+, leading state: India)
3. EU+USA+Canada+Israel+Oceania/ANZ (EU+, leading states: USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland)
4. ASEAN+Japan+Korea+Maldives+Sri Lanka+Bangladesh+PNG+East Timor (ASEAN+, leading states: Japan, unified Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Bangladesh)
5. Latin American Union: UNASUR+Mexico (LAU, leading states: Brazil, Mexico, Columbia and Argentina)
6. expanded GCC to include all non-Maghreb Arab countries (GCC+, leading states: KSA and Iraq)
7. Eurasian Union+Iran+Pakistan+Afghanistan+Turkey+Mongolia (Eurasia+, leading states: Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan)
8. African Union (AU, leading states Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa)

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-...d-order-road-map-future-11.html#ixzz21rP5jRjY

B.

1. China+Taiwan (China+, leading state: PRC)
2. India+Nepal+Bhutan (India+, leading state: India)
3. EU+USA+Canada+Israel+Oceania/ANZ+Russian speaking countries [Russia+Ukraine+Belarus+Mongolia] (EU+, leading states: USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia and Poland)
4. ASEAN+Japan+Korea+Maldives+Sri Lanka+Bangladesh+PNG+East Timor (ASEAN+, leading states: Japan, unified Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Bangladesh)
5. Latin American Union: UNASUR+Mexico (LAU, leading states: Brazil, Mexico, Columbia and Argentina)
6. expanded GCC to include all non-Maghreb Arab countries (GCC+, leading states: KSA and Iraq)
7. 5 stans+Iran+Pakistan+Afghanistan+Turkey+Azerbaijan (Central Asian Union)
8. African Union (AU, leading states Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa)

1,2&4 and 3&5 and 6&7 may remain closely allied and eventually may combine together at a later stage in both A and B scenario. So this will result in 3 super blocks:

Asia (1,2,4,6,7) led by China
Euro (3,5) led by USA, Russia, Germany, France and UK
Africa (8) led by Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa

 

[MilSpec]

^^ growing up we saw very similar show on doordarshan, it was called "Mungerilal ke haseen sapnay"

 

[kalu_miah]

Asia can not rise unless western forces are completely kicked out by a powerful Asian country. Currently, most Asian countries are highly influenced and even to say controlled by the US, if the status quo doesn't change, there is absolutely no way for Asia to rise. Sometimes it is absolutely necessary to use force, which I believe the US is getting ready for since China will not accept its number one enemy in its neighborhood and will challenge the US in the foreseeable future for control of our own backyard. US influenced/dominated-Asian countries are used to Western domination and are very supportive of the West/US, so they will side with the US in containing Asia (we know who these countries are). But after the smoke has cleared, the winner (China) will help rebuild Asia and usher in an age of Asian renaissance.

If China seems to be overpowered, then we will initiate something called the 'American Doctrine' (might be worded differently) which is to use nuclear weapons and take the whole world down with it (what Americans would do if they were about to lose). So it's either China comes out on top or the whole world goes down with it.

I was trying to apply a quote from Confucius in support of regionalism:

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Instead of learning by "experience", as Europe did as they went through countless wars in previous centuries and the last two World Wars in 20th century, we can instead "imitate" and create regional unions like EU while also "reflecting" on a new possibility for a common Asian future.

If China wants to see less US or even Indian influence in rest of Asia and the world, then the creation of the regional unions will go a long way to help these regions become self sufficient and powerful in their own right and not dependent on far away powers, while they remain grateful and allied with China for the helping hand they provided in time of need:

African Union gets a South African leader, lending the group heft | MinnPost

The AU Commission that Dlamini-Zuma now heads relies on donors for around half of its budget, and its new $200 million headquarters in Addis Ababa was a gift from the Chinese.

 

[Audio]

I was trying to apply a quote from Confucius in support of regionalism:



Instead of learning by "experience", as Europe did as they went through countless wars in previous centuries and the last two World Wars in 20th century, we can instead "imitate" and create regional unions like EU while also "reflecting" on a new possibility for a common Asian future.

Trust and common goals are the first thing.

 

[Audio]

In Europe, the EU is basically a Franco-German power-play. In both these cases, the powerhouses would be better off economically by themselves, but they sacrifice that advantage for the political leverage the union gives them over their neighbors.

The EU was made with an intent to equalize living conditions over the whole continent as to remove any possibilities of another major war. The predecessor of the Union was actually a sort of organization of heavy industries through out Europe.

I agree with the French-German power play, however it is in best interest of almost everyone be a part of this larger bloc. How would a small euro nation react on trade bullying by some bigger state for example?

 

[Kompromat]

Thank you for the entertainment.

Time to end the show