Chapter Six
90
cheap design, its neighbors place their bets on reducing men power but
providing the best and newest technology.
We can see the Chinese options for defense policy and weapons when
China was a timid country, ranked in sixth place, with the United States,
Japan, Germany, Russia and Canada in higher positions and with Italy and
Brazil in lower positions, but in parallel with the United Kingdom and
France.
It is equally important to see the hegemonies in the Tectonic Regions
because the evolution had confirmed a long and debated prognosis.
Figure 6-8: Hegemonic States by Tectonic Regions^15
Cline Tectonic Regions Hegemonic State
North America United States
South America Brazil
Europe Germany
Eurasia Russia
Middle East / North Africa Egypt
Sub-Saharan Africa South Africa
North Asia Japan
Southeast Asia Indonesia
Southwest Asia India
Australasia AustraliaIt is useful to be acquainted with this observation from a reputed
strategist and influential member of the United States Global Strategy
Council, to attempt to understand the evolution of these strategic regions,
as observed by the American power and its think tanks. In this perspective,
China was a regional power in North Asia, a region where the great power
is still Japan. The region assessment ranks China in the second position
and Taiwan in the third.
The great novelty in this book is the inclusion of my own country–
Portugal–in the ranking. Over the course of ten years, Portugal lost its
military force (10) and now what is overestimated is its economic
performance (10). Nevertheless, perceived power is perceived power, and
Portugal has no military power at all in the assessment of Cline–and this
can be easily verified by simple observation.
(^15) Cline.