If we could look into crystal ball and see the future, where do you think the U.S. will be militaristically and in terms of world power a century from now? Will we still hold most of the cards or will be under control by China, a reformed Russia or some yet to be named underworld country? We have been in control for enough time now that we take things for granted.

Politically and historically things do not stay the same. Because of the resentment, fear and the idea of " bringing down the big guy" we are in the gun sights for whoever wants to bring us down, terrorist's or otherwise. We are the likely target for someone smart enough to wait until the old adage power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutley.

We are destroying our own military by recruiting the national guard, extending their stay and having less and less young people signing up to take their place. Even if, and possibly when they try to bring back the draft, emotions and public outcry will stop that in its tracks where is our armed forces going to come from?

roman empire read up on it. history kinda repeats its shelf alot.i think in an 100 years global warming will be leading the world economy.all world leaders will have to bow there heads in shame and fight over the last sandwich.

If you're talking strictly about the U.S. - and even if you were talking, in a larger sense, about the world - anything is possible. One hundred years is a long time, and no one could have predicted in 1901 that the Austro-Hungarian and German empires would fall, or that it would be the bloodiest century mankind has ever known, or even that advances would be made at a rhythm never seen before in transportation and communications.

I believe that whatever happens politically or economically in this century, will happen very fast. Communications are unceasingly getting better, people in different countries are interconnecting, and global awareness is rising.

In my view, the following things MAY happen:

A) THE WORLD

- The resurgence of nationalism in Eastern Europe will be a temporary phenomenon, stimulated by the breakup of the Soviet Union. Eventually, those countries - especially the smaller ones, like the Baltic ones - will show interest in federating again, albeit loosely. One, because the economic and environmental mess wrought by the last 30 years of the Soviet Union will prove too much to handle at a national level, and two, because it will become clear that in a world with only one superpower, political clout will depend not only on power of persuasion, but sheer size. Hence either the European Union will extend far to the East, or - a more plausible scenario - Boris Yeltsin's old CIE (Community of Independant States) will be renovated and center around Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, etc.

- The United States may be tempted to grow increasingly independent of international forums - it's already happening with the UN and the International Criminal Court. Eventually, other countries will see the U.S. accumulating more and more power as a threat to their sovereignty and relevancy, and will organize into closer-knit blocks to be able to deal on more equal terms with America: the European Union, obviously; China; India, the aforementioned Eastern European/Centre Asian countries.

- The war in Iraq will spark more and more anger in the Muslim world, and as more Muslims are killed, more of their relatives will become terrorists. The United States will be fighting the war on terror for many, many years, and the result may be that a number of Middle Eastern countries will be in shambles, while the U.S. will be struggling economically under a staggering national debt - because of the money involved to keep the military effort going and to secure the borders.

- Africa and South America will continue to develop in an unequal way. The depletion of the Amazon will leave millions of people with unfarmable land (the Amazon's topsoil is fragile and provides farmable land for only a few years) and there may be massive starvation issues. Overpopulation and pollution will become a heavy problem in cities like Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Lagos (Nigeria), Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, etc. In Africa, some coutries will slowly get better because of local development initiatives (Senegal, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, to name a few) while others (Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Congo-DRC, Uganda) will be unable to go forward economically because of the onslaught of AIDS, famine, or the aftermath of civil war.

But all this, of course, would happen in the next 30 years... there's no much to say about what happens after - it can really go in a lot of directions.

No way. The us has carved a niche for itself where we are the only superpower allowed. I think future presidents will try to do everything possible to keep it that way. ANd i think we will succeed.

They said that about the Roman Empire and the British Empire. All things are impermanent and fleeting. If history teaches us anything, that is it. Situations change beyond our ability to predict those changes. We can't predict with any kind of certainty that the U.S. will still be the sole superpower in 100 years.

The thing to consider is that the British Empire and the Roman Empire didn't have enough nukes to annilate all human life on Earth. Simply put, if the US goes down it will probably be so slow nobody will notice or it will be one hell of a bang.

This is what i always thought of as a possibility:

1:European Union would of formed succesfully dispite its complications over the years.But this time the capitol will be moved to either Geneva(Switzeland)or Bracelona(Spain)excuse my spelling.Later they will form a military which will be nearly,but not quite,to the size and power of the US.
The US will see this as a "threat"and further advance its military more to stay the "soul power".

China will finally become a superpower,it will have the power equivalent to that of US and the EU.

Australia and New Zealand will become one,although it will still be Australia.

Due to South Africa`s large amounts of resources(still more as counted today)in gold,platinum,Diamonds and various other elements,it will advance into a well develop nation.It will later become very power,not quite as the ``big three``(US,EU and China)but powerful.Later form a Union with the rest of the southern african nations.AIDS and crime will be lowered.

Brazil will become a world power.Its will also be an important world reigon due to its land importance to Earth.Large amounts of reserves will be made to save the rainforest and more will be regrown to strengthen the forest and restore it to its former self as once before(technology will help this).

Global warming will continue but will end to the near end of the century.Due to the ever ending advancement in technology,this problem will be sorted.

The UN will survive and will be taken more serously through the 100years. Although the US will distance itself but will rejoin due to the fact of possible hualts to exports and trades and alliences.Note that many nations will not rely on the US or the EU anymore due to``yet again``advancements.

The major wars of the century will occur in

-Kazakistan and other former central russians states(this will be due to newfound resources in the desert)

-Indonesia/Australia over ``islands``

Argentina and Chile/the EU will fight over the Falken Islands.Heavy casualties will be lost.Nations located on the southern Atlantic ocean will be kept on alert due to this war.

India will advance into a well developed nation.Like Brazil and South Africa.
Population will be under control by strict laws.Many "man made" islands will be made off the coast by india developers.This will be proven a great success and already overcrowded nations like the US,China,Brazil,and EU will adopt this idea.

Canada will population triple its size.

Quebec will not gain independence dispite a 3day war with the Canadian Amry(which will be backed by US).

And Mexico would of paid all its dept 50years from now,it will now advance into a wealthy and powerful nation.It will have great control in central america and the Carribbian.

Sounds a bit optimistic to me.

My theory is that the US will continue to be one of the lead forces in the world. Whether or not we take over Canada may or may not happen. That part totally depends on how our state of relations go. Personally this whole debate over the missile defense system being in Canada will only be the start of what will happen in the end. Either way, the US will probably be a world power if not a superpower for years to come. That is unless of course we piss off the world enough to get invaded. Even if an invasion fails, we'll probably suffer for it economically.

The European Union will be a power to be reckoned with, however the UK will stay somewhat isolated, retaining control of it's military. Unless of course Tony Blair's successors sell's out the once proud nation.

At some point Argentina and Brazil will go to war. Argentina will be taken over by a Facist goverment decended from former Nazi's. In an attempt to gain power they will probably assualt Paraguy and Brazil, they'll probaby take another stab at the Falkland Islands at some point. Most likely the Brit's will kick their rears again. Brazil will probably screw it's enviroment but become significantly wealthier in the process. That is until global warming screws us all.

Mexico is going to stay poor due to massive debts. It's possible that the EU may try to collect debts by invasion. However the US will probably either step in and prevent war, or join the invasion in an attempt to get rich.

China will of course be a major power. However within my lifetime they'll switch to capatalism now that they've discovered the fun of American money. China may or may not attempt to expand into Siberia. If they do, they won't succeed. China will invade Taiwan successfully, unless the US steps in, in that case China will probably figure Taiwan isn't worth the fighting the US. Tibet will probably have a revolution, however unless Tibet get's outside help, the PLA will probably crush the revolt.

North Korea's regime will probably collapse. And unless it gets help from China (unlikely if the regime falls after China goes capatalist) or Russia (pretty unlikely unless the Soviet Union comes back) they will probably end up reuniting with South Korea. Naturally there will be a war between them and probably some civil wars after the reunion, but it will probably last for quite a while.

Australia will probably be everybodies friend and probably won't become much of a military or political player in the world. They will however be domestically secure and will probably resist any possible military invasions that will happen in the next fifty years (unless they piss off a major power).

India will also become a major power. They'll probably have some rivalry with China. Plus they'll probably take the disputed lands between them and Pakistan. India will at some point over take China in terms of population simply because China has a lot more birth control measures, and India has a lot more females. This overpopulation will of course lead to some pretty major problems.

Africa is going to keep having problems. South Africa might improve but it will only be a major power in the jewels market and the southern part of Africa. Unless the EU or someone invades Africa is going to have all sorts of problems for years to come. AID's will continue to cause problems and high rape rates will cause population problems.

The middle east will probably form some sort of union. It will probably be the result of some great religous event which will bring the middle east under the control of one Muslim faction. From there the middle east will be united by one religion. It is unlikely that this will be an extremist form of Islam, therefore the ME will be a much nicer place to visit. However they'll probably get into a war with Isreal at some point.

Iran and Isreal will of course go to war or something. Iran will get it's nukes, unless the US invades. In that case Isreal will just have to watch out for the rest of the Middle East. Most likely Iran will join the middle eastern union mentioned above.

The Russians are going to get pretty angry about how capatalism is going, plus Bush's relations with Russia don't fill me with confidence. Anyhow Russia will probably go Communist. After that it will only be a matter of time before the return of the mighty Soviet Union. Anyhow they'll be stronger ecomically than the first USSR and they'll be a superpower once more. Chances are they'll go neck to neck with US avation progress. Plasma stealth may also become a reality. This second USSR or second Soviet Empire will probably do what it did in the Cold War. Spread communism and piss off the west.

In a global perspective, it doesn't look to bright. Huge nuclear arsenals will be built militaries will become the number one priority of many nations once again. The global economies will probably continue to integrate so when one major power has a depression, most of the world will have a depretion. Anyhow by the turn of the next century, I think we'll be looking at heavily integrated economies and the return of massive wars. Who knows, we may even see WWIII within the next hundred years if were not careful.

On a scale of 0-100, with 0 totally defensless and 100 the power to completely dominate the rest of the combined world....

83 US - The US keeps it's economic edge over China and the EU, and thus it can still spend much more on it's military. The gap has closed between it and it's competitors.

75 China - China is nipping at the heels of the US, but has major problems feeding it's massive population as well as catching up to the US military technology wise. Though powerfull, their force projection is still not that of the United States.

70 EU - Socialistic federal programs drag the economy. A lack of centralization between the major players such as the UK, France, and Germany creats rifts in the union that prevent them from achieving their true potential.

Totally agreed American mad man,well made representation.It seems that the todays "big three"are not the US,Russia and the UK anymore,but US,EU and China.

Jesus will reign supreme on Earth as he defeated Satan and his legions. The believers and survivors will live in Paradise on Earth, and that is that.

Originally posted by Ryanp5555
Jesus will reign supreme on Earth as he defeated Satan and his legions. The believers and survivors will live in Paradise on Earth, and that is that.

I believe the lord will come,but im not sure about this centure Ryan.Although i do agree he will come.

Originally posted by blackSt33L

Originally posted by Ryanp5555
Jesus will reign supreme on Earth as he defeated Satan and his legions. The believers and survivors will live in Paradise on Earth, and that is that.

I believe the lord will come,but im not sure about this centure Ryan.Although i do agree he will come.

I dunno i look at Syria, Iran, and Russia and Syria and Irans strong stance against Israel and say would they attack Israel, would Gog and Magog attack Israel, yes i believe they would. There have been currently 7 leaders of the UN and the eigth is still yet to come.... I can see it happening, the morality of the world is decreasing at an exponential rate, IMO.

All the countries of the world will come together to be one! And we will concentrate on colonizing other planets such as mars due to the destruction of our own planet because of the impending nuclear war with North Korea.

Perhaps!!!

I think we will see a rise of nationalist, fascist and nazi like rise in europe and in russia as they are becoming fasionable again in them parts of the world. It is quite scary really because russia has 15,000 to 18,000 neo nazis over there at the moment, could grow and rise into power in the next 10 to 15 years. This could be history repeating its self and you could see the world against europe and russia.

Another likely possibility is technology will completely take over the world. Who ever controls the technology will control the globe. Who are in the lead of technology? Probably Japan and the US.