*face palm*

Neptune you're being silly again. China is not communist. They've kept the old communist names IE: "National Congress of the Communist Party of China". That doesn't mean that they are communist. Where did you get this from? When a despotic dictatorship in Africa names itself "The Democratic Nation of ______" doesn't necessarily mean that there is a Democracy. China is a reformed socialist state with a market economy. Multiple stock exchanges  and whatnot!

20 years ago China was indeed a communist state. Get with the times, for God's sake!

Edit:

During the late 90s, I had to explain the same thing (about Russia) to a friend of mine who thought Russia still was a communist country. That was in 1998 (7 years after 1991)!!

Now you're doing the exact same thing that my friend did back in 1998. Providing false facts in order to strengthen your own argument.

China will not overtake the US in the 21st Century. China might challenge US power and assert its hegemony in East Asia and possibly challenge US hegemony in the broader Asia-Pacific region, but it will not challenge the US on a global scale.

China will overtake the US in the 21st Century. China will challenge US power and asset its hegemony in East Asia and challenge US hegemony in the broader Asia-Pacific region, and will challenge the US on a global scale.

I don't see China doing it.

My money is on the EU.

China is getting richer but it's going to have a lot of stumbling blocks in the future for it's growth as a country.

If China were to ever pass the US it would either have to be to a giant US crash or China to transition out of it's current government.

^Well, the EU already has a greater economy than the US, and over the past few years (excluding this recession), EU growth has been greater than that of the US, and when the other nations join, (such as Turkey) that gap is going to grow.

However, it won't get much clout until it becomes more unified on economic and foreign policy. Economic policy is a gradual thing, and the Lisbon treaty worked towards greater foreign unity, but that's been stalled.

Intiatives such as SAFE are the building blocks towards an EU Army, but that'll never be the size of the US's, considering that, even now, the EU's combined armies only equate to under half of the US's, and a unified force will probably be smaller.

True, but once again... the clout is all that really matters.

The US has less GDP.  Yet a US systematic failure is more dangerous then an EU one.

The US more or less is the sole main driver of the world economy despite the GDP parity.

Which of course is an issue.

Even Obama is calling for the EU to step up when it comes to it's economic game.

Rare times when a President is saying other nations need to match theirs.

Yeah, I was essentially agreeing with you about the EU being the next super power. It already have the economic strength, and that's looking to grow (in the long run) even further. I was just saying that there are some political issues that need to be addressed, first.

And they are being addressed, just really slowly.

The most interesting aspects will be if the US stays a super power as well... or if they start to slip if they will try to go with the "American Union" Bush was paving the way for.

I would guess that as American and Europeon interests are still similar the transition will go more peacefully then if China or a resurgent russia led the way.

Who knows what the future may hold. Russia may even one day join the EU (there were a lot of talks about it at the start of the decade, just Google "Russia joining EU")... they already partake in the Eurovision Song Contest ;)

As does Israel, don't ask me why.