Russia by itself is already a threat to Nato. China is already a threat to democracies in the far east. So its not a potential. But SCO has the potential being the axis of anti-western dictatorship. Russia has almost zero history of democracy so mixing Russia with democracy is like mixing oil and water. At its present form and pace, Russia will not be a democracy. As matter in fact, Russians as a people are more comfortable with dictatorship. As for China, same thing X2. You can just tell from Chinese members in here how much they love communist dictatorship. And this are not CCP propoganda. The majority of Chinese would vote for dictatorship if they have a choice
China is a regional power at the moment.....Its the multi-trillion dollar economy that makes it a superpower....However do remember that the economy is a 2 way street.....
However you completely overestimate China if you think that it wields "military" influence anywhere outside of SE Asia and
maybe CAR.
At this point comparing China with NATO is an unrealistic scenario.....
NATO has the ability to cripple China overnight if required....
As I mentioned....China will be what the US is to a military alliance if formed...but by itself it cannot do much to NATO.....Militarily that is....
PS:About the Chinese members here.....I actually appreciate their patriotism......One should love their country no matter what....If a dictatorship or communism is what is making your country great....then thats their lookout on what they feel is the right form of governance...
I myself have at times thrown a "below the belt" jab at the Chinese members....only because I feel they are in no position to comment on India and Indians....But otherwise to each his own....and I admire some Chinese members here.....eg. Oceanx...yourself...though you seem more American than Chinese...
BRIC is a economic terms. Not a military relationship. BRIC was not coined by CIA or state department or KGB or CCP, but by Goldman Sach. Its serves as a measurement of relative economic strength of the BRIC countries. Eventually, the head of states of these four countries think its a good idea to get together for a talk. However, none of these 4 countries has any similarities beyond being labeled by Goldman Sach. As for economic potentials, China by itself can have the most influence compare to India,Russia and Brazil combined. A more important economic relationship is Chinamerica. This is by far the most important economic forum in the world as this relationship literally has the world economy on its back.
I never said that BRIC is a military alliance....I said
if they organized themselves on the lines of NATO, could be a major threat.....
Off late, the BRIC nations have started to be more ogranized through regular meetings etc. I find it hard to believe that these countries will not utilize their combined clout to influence politics.....But thats again speculation.....
China is the most influential in the current state....But it lacks in resources especially oil/energy....
Russia is the second largest supplier of energy after OPEC and India controls the sea lanes to China....Plus all the countries that are part of BRIC growing at a fast pace.....China is ahead in the race but not for long esp seeing some of the drawbacks it faces....
It comes down to how each of these members can scratch each others backs......alienating Russia or India cannot serve China positively as each commands a certain authority in their sphere.....
China is nowhere close to being a hyperpower like the US, which I feel is an assumption on your part based on your comments...
I think its lame that many Chinese thread bring up Indians. But not as many Indian threads that bring up China. Many Chinese start to develop a fixation with India, at least in this forum. However, the problem is not as bad as Indians has with China. As many Indian action or achievement inevitably would bring comparason with China by some poster. This is totally not necessary as the people should stick to the topic instead of comparason. So this thread should be about China and Venezuela and not about India.
Honestly...at least in the US....Indians and Chinese gel together quite well.....
I also think that the whole hype about Indo-Chinese "hatred" is nothing more than a faux by product of the environment that we are posting in.....
A lot of Chinese members here I feel tug Pakistan's boat on a lot of issues to "fit in"....when even they know that the rise of India has been similar to China in many ways.....
But hey....who am I to judge.....but thats my observation....
I do not think Indian government and industry has a great need for energy as Indian growth has come in service and IT sector. So its need for energy is still miniscule as compare to that of China now. Maybe it will change, but as of now, there is little competition for energy between India and China. If there is any competition, its between US and China for energy. And there is already a game going on in the middle east and Africa.
Well if you are talking about the level of industrialization....
China is miles ahead of India......
But that does not mean that internal consumption of energy is not a major need of the hour....
Lets be honest....The sacking of the IPI pipeline to make way for the US nuke deal was to secure a unfettered supply of energy as opposed to a risky yet cost efficient proposition....
But I will say this....India is not currently investing in African nations or the likes of Venezuela to secure resources.....But rest assured...you can expect the Indian government to be in this race by the end of this decade....if the level of current growth is sustained....