Re: Boles => Grimes on China

Though I certainly respect the cautious tone which accompanies this
analysis, I do have a couple of questions...

> > Although its dangerous to expect the past to repeat itself, to the degree
> > that the world system is cyclical, we would expect the US to face
> > off with
> > Europe, not East Asia.  Old hegemons have typically been
> > militarilly eclipsed
> > by continental powers whose impressive record at political integration is
> > matched by an unimpresive record of economic integration.  This
> > is the story
> > of Spain, France, and Germany.  Presently the European Union is the most
> > innovative political actor in the world--yet economically it
> > remains a bunch
> > of unintegrated nation states lumped together.

In what way is European political integration more impressive than
European economic integration?  

> >  New hegemons (which are
> > characterized by high levels of economic integration and underdeveloped
> > bureaucracies) have not typically fought wars about old hegemons.
> > In terms
> > of repeating patterns, we would expect the US to increasingly look toward
> > East Asia as its economic (later military) savior.

In what way is East Asian economic integration more impressive than
European economic integration?  Secondly, in what way does the European
Union (as opposed to Asia) constitute a "continental" power in any
meaningful sense?

> > But its not
> > necessarilly
> > the case that these cycles will mechanically repeat themselves.
> >
> > Steven Sherman

-- 
Boris Stremlin
bstremli@binghamton.edu