What will the future look like?

Who are the new players? In the last 20 years new global players have emerged as we move from a bipolar world to a multipolar one The BRICs The expansion of the EU to 27 countries has led to an increase in power as a block What is happening to the old powers?Russian Gas and energy:Natural gas has helped Russia become more significant because they can sell it for high prices to whoever they want. In 2006 Russia cut its gas supplies to Ukraine for 3 daysPreserving Prosperity:USA and EU are becoming more dependent on China but they worry that Chinese workers have no loyalty to the home country. E.g. global technology players. Microsoft and Apple establish research policies in China and India. Growth of software exports by 2 - 17% in 1997-2004Restructuring:Since the 1970s USA have had to resort to moving away from their main manufacturing sector due to increased competition from Japan and China e.g. car manufacturing industry has moved to Japan and China. In 2008 the top 5 selling cars in USA were Japanese in originSpace:To begin with the space race was only completed by 2 countries, the USA and USSR. However now other countries are joining and threatening the might of NASA. China are planning their own space station to rival international space stations and also plan a visit to mars by 2040. NASA plans to do his by 2032Territorial Tensions:Diaogutai Islands - Japan controls them, China thinks they should Chunxiao gas field - arguing over resource extractionEconomic line runs through Japan and China - disputes over where the line should beAs china grows it becomes greedy