Comments on: Robert Kaplan on the New Balance of Power http://cominganarchy.com/2008/04/18/robert-kaplan-on-the-new-balance-of-power/ Speak Victorian, Think Pagan Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:17:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: IJ http://cominganarchy.com/2008/04/18/robert-kaplan-on-the-new-balance-of-power/comment-page-1/#comment-383337 IJ Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:14:13 +0000 http://cominganarchy.com/2008/04/18/robert-kaplan-on-the-new-balance-of-power/#comment-383337 <b>The U.S. has to find a way to have some sort of normalized relationship with Iran. The rest of the world is not going to wait the U.S. out, but is moving closer to Iran and Russia</b> Only an extract from <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JD19Df02.html" rel="nofollow">Afghanistan moves to center stage</a>: The United States' monopoly of the Afghan war is beginning to come under serious public challenge. . . Ahmadinejad's statement [this week] is the first time that Tehran has questioned frontally at the highest level of leadership the raison d'etre of the US intervention in Afghanistan. The U.S. has to find a way to have some sort of normalized relationship with Iran. The rest of the world is not going to wait the U.S. out, but is moving closer to Iran and Russia

Only an extract from Afghanistan moves to center stage:

The United States’ monopoly of the Afghan war is beginning to come under serious public challenge. . . Ahmadinejad’s statement [this week] is the first time that Tehran has questioned frontally at the highest level of leadership the raison d’etre of the US intervention in Afghanistan.

]]> By: Jing http://cominganarchy.com/2008/04/18/robert-kaplan-on-the-new-balance-of-power/comment-page-1/#comment-383329 Jing Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:55:25 +0000 http://cominganarchy.com/2008/04/18/robert-kaplan-on-the-new-balance-of-power/#comment-383329 Not to be nitpicky but whoever wrote that article is more than a little innumerate. I read it a few days ago in print at the local Barnes & Noble. For one thing, India seems to have gained 400 million people (1.5 billion vis-a-vis 1.1), also it mentioned that India being the largest economy in the mid-future which given past and present growth rates isn't technically possible. I've really become tired of the term "middle class" as it is virtually meaningless since different standards are being applied. No one bothers actually citing actual figures of consumption. For example, in 2006, per capita disposable income (that is income less neccessities) in urban India (that is the wealthiest 30%) was around 80 cents per day. I believe MasterCard or some other credit card agency calculated that only people with exchange rate incomes of $5000 USD or higher were really relevant as global consumers, and even then they had to be geographically concentrated in metropolitan areas. Not to be nitpicky but whoever wrote that article is more than a little innumerate. I read it a few days ago in print at the local Barnes & Noble. For one thing, India seems to have gained 400 million people (1.5 billion vis-a-vis 1.1), also it mentioned that India being the largest economy in the mid-future which given past and present growth rates isn’t technically possible. I’ve really become tired of the term “middle class” as it is virtually meaningless since different standards are being applied. No one bothers actually citing actual figures of consumption. For example, in 2006, per capita disposable income (that is income less neccessities) in urban India (that is the wealthiest 30%) was around 80 cents per day. I believe MasterCard or some other credit card agency calculated that only people with exchange rate incomes of $5000 USD or higher were really relevant as global consumers, and even then they had to be geographically concentrated in metropolitan areas.

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