Chinese President, Xi Jinping

With the end of Second World War and the defeat of Nazis, America truly emerged as a superpower bypassing British which was considered to be the world leader before World War 2. British-led Allied powers consisting of United States of America, France, Russia and some other countries overcame Hitler’s central powers but that made Allied powers bankrupt and they had to approach America for aid.

America came to the rescue of Allied powers but with strict conditions providing an opportunity for America to bypass British as a superpower. British was reluctant to leave space for America but its financial crisis compelled it to do so and signing of Bretton Woods system’s agreements proved to be the last nail in the coffin of British imperialist power. The Bretton Woods system forced British to open its markets for the world trade which is used to avoid in the past out of fear of being economically taken over by America.

Major institutions formed under the  Bretton Woods system including IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World bank were under the USA hegemony and still acting as pawns of USA. America was the sole major contributor to the Funds of these institutions and so had a high vote based on its share.

After second World war Communist Soviet Union emerged as a competitor to the USA on the world stage but soon after the end of the Cold war, USSR was dismembered into 15 tiny states. This made America sole leading power again and the remaining Russia was nowhere to compete America on the world level. Even Russia lost most of its regional influence with the bulk of former Soviet states adopting Capitalism as the basis of their economies.

However, China kept on going with a proficient economic rate by adopting a no intervention policy in world politics. After  9/11 attacks America started a new wave of attacks on a number of countries, first targeting Afghanistan, then Iraq and then using its proxies in Libya, Syria etc. These continuous wars made America weaker in terms of its economic power and provided China with a chance to rise up as a global economic power, China was no late in grabbing this opportunity and emerged as a powerful economic giant.

While the USA was spending and is spending billions of dollars on wars, China is busy in exploring new world markets ranging from Africa to Asia to Europe. China has been achieving the highest GDP (Gross domestic product) growth rate not only in the region but on the world level for years. This economic prosperity allowed China to flex its muscles as a regional power and is now taking on America on many issues including its stance on South China Sea dispute. China is building its artificial islands there and gaining more and more ground in world politics.

Chinese products have also occupied most the world markets including that of America, making it difficult for America to keep apace with China because of its cheap labor force and its currency devaluation policy.  China has truly emerged as a world power but to take over America as a superpower it has to build up a strong Defence industry in which it is lacking and also has to opt for more advanced industrial tools.