With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Editor’s Note ~ Volume 09 / Spring 2006
The world today is dominated by the United States and its allies. It is, however, a rapidly changing world in which new powers are emerging, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening, and conflict and humanitarian crisis continue to afflict the lives of millions. Within this context, the challenges of exercising unparalleled power are proving both complex and unprecedented. It is this power and the responsibilities that come with it that are the focus of this year’s edition of the Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs.
The statistics are stunning. The combined GDP of the United States and Europe currently stands at $22.747 trillion,1 and the United States alone spends $455 billion per year on its armed forces – more than the combined military expenditures of the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and China.2
Nevertheless, powerful changes are afoot. The Chinese economy promises a growth rate of 7.2 percent per year3 over the next five years, with many predicting that it will develop an economy of a size that rivals that of the United States by 2020.4 China is not alone. A recent study by Goldman Sachs identified three more economies that seem poised to enter the top ranks of economic power within the foreseeable future: Brazil, Russia and India.5
Despite this rising prosperity, an estimated 2.9 billion people remain in poverty – almost half of the planet’s population.6 In its latest report, the International Crisis Group identified no less than 70 existing or potential conflicts around the world.7
Nowhere are the challenges and tensions of our changing world more evident than in Africa, where powers old and new jostle for influence against a background of poverty and war. Countries such as Sudan have seen the entire international community descend upon them over the last five years. Development agencies, multinational corporations and the governments of China, India, the United States and several European countries have all painstakingly sought influence, aiming to resolve conflict, encourage development or gain access to resources.
In Africa, the responsibilities of power are thrown into high relief as the difference between success and failure is immediate and visceral. The challenges of this region are, in many ways, a microcosm of what is happening on the broader international scene.
It is in this context that contributors to this year’s edition of the Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs have addressed the issues of global governance, interdependence, immigration, military intervention, energy, democratic development, humanitarian aid and human rights. The result is a powerful collection of writings that will provoke and inspire.
Tarig Hashim Hilal
Editor-in-Chief
April 2006
Notes
- “Europe” refers to the EU 15. OECD In Figures 2005, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- The 15 Major Spenders in 2004, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
- Dominic Wilson and Roopa Purushothaman, “Dream With BRICs: The Path to 2050,” Global Economics Paper No. 99 (New York: Goldman Sachs, 2003).
- “The World’s Largest Economies,” The Economist, 30 March 2006.
- See Wilson and Purushothaman.
- By the $2 per day poverty measure. William R Cline, “Trading Up: Trade Policy and Global Policy,” Center for Global Development CGD Brief Volume 2, Issue 4 (September 2003) , p. 1.
- “Crisis Watch No. 32,” International Crisis Group, 1 April 2006.
