On World Stage, Four New Empires and One Sleeper Vie for Spotlight

Pacific News Service

"On World Stage, Four New Empires and One Sleeper Vie for Spotlight

Commentary/Analysis, Franz Schurmann,
Pacific News Service, Sep 16, 2005
Editor's Note: China is not the only rising star on the world scene, writes PNS editor Franz Schurmann. Other empires in the making will soon resist or challenge American hegemony. All have an Asian outlook.

SAN FRANCISCO--As he leaves the U.N. summit in New York amid his domestic troubles, President Bush might be mulling whether America is a declining empire. In fact, there are four other contenders for revival of empire waiting in the wings, and one sleeper.

Historians know that regardless of the political differences of empires, they hold one key factor in common. All of them wield direct power over big chunks of the world. Every time a new empire appears, some countries decide to cling to it and others resist it. "