Spite

The later you buy this, the smaller the advantage. But if you buy it early, you miss out on the "essential" (ie defence) projects. I foresee the few people who buy this not actually getting any benefit from it.

You'd need to build ~$150m of infrastructure to make this pay for itself.

Human trafficking is an issue because prostitution is illegal. If the sex trade wasn't in the hands of criminals it wouldn't be such a problem. You'll find that the more draconian the sex laws are in a country, the more violence against women. I wouldn't use prostitutes myself, but I think the prostitutes themselves deserve legal protection, and they can only have that if the practice is decriminalised.

The EU isn't a federal state it's a loose economic union. Using the term "superpower" to describe something that: 1. Isn't a country 2. Has no army 3. Has no unified economic policy (not all countries are eurozone) 4. Has no single political/diplomatic representation just means you don't understand what "great power" means. It doesn't mean a strong country or organisation it is a specific term in international relations which has a specific set of criteria. "Superpower" other than being something the X-Men have is just a slang term coined to describe the USA and USSR as pre-eminent great powers. China is an emerging great power. It's not established by any means. It is fighting for the title of greatest economy now. In 1980 Chinese GDP was $200 billion. In 1999 when Hong Kong joined China, it represented a third of all Chinese GDP. One city. It's economic power is very new- so yes it is emerging. Militarily China cannot project power globally though it is acquiring that capability, and diplomatically it has weak influence compared to the USA or even the UK/France. It's a great power, not a superpower. And even then only just.

by that logic France is a superpower. I don't think you understand what the term means

It should be legal and regulated. In most places it is.

Russia's WMDs are more likely to explode in their silos than launch. Zero chance of escalation into even a conventional war.

It's always easier for ISIS. They don't care about maintaining infrastructure or protecting civilians, so they can use this to divide and weaken anyone attacking them by splitting their priorities. Assad is a first rate cretin, ISIS are worse. Rebels are disorganized and include everyone from secularists to tribal fanatics to religious minority groups. Situation won't be resolved until Western ground forces intervene.

What is a superpower? Superpower is a term used during the cold war to describe the emergence of the USA and USSR as the two foremost great powers. What is a great power? A great power is a power which can project military strength globally, exerts global political hegemoney, is recognised as a great power by other great powers and is in the first rank of nations worldwide. This last part is what made the term superpower contentious in international relations (as opposed to colloquial usage). The great powers are widely recognised as being the permanent members of the UN security council - ie. USA, UK, France, China and Russia, with the possible inclusion of Japan and Germany who fulfill all the criteria of great powers except military strength. Now it's obvious that since the fall of the USSR (even before that arguably) the USA is by far the most powerful country in the world. Politically, economically and militarily it is the centre of the world. Now by the original definition of great powers, this means it is the only great power, since it is in a class of its own. China is a powerful regional power with global economic clout. It has growing influence in Africa and the Middle-East and some legacy influence in parts of Latin America. However it is not politically on a par with the USA, not even on a par with smaller countries such as Germany and the UK. Economically it is very strong, but that economy is based largely on it's industrial capacity. It's per-capita income is still very low and it's human development index barely rates it as an OECD nation never mind in the first rank globally. In terms of military power, the vast bulk of Chinese military expenditure is focused defensively. Despite being the second or third biggest spender on arms globally, it has a big catch up game to play with the USA and their Western allies. It's technology is lacking and it hasn't got the naval or air capacity to fight a war abroad. For example, China would logistically struggle to attack Iraq in the way the USA did, if it wanted to do such a thing. It lacks the ability to win an air war abroad, and is largely a local power. So no, China isn't a superpower. It's an emerging great power which may some day reach a position where it's per capita income, military strength and foreign influence ranks it at a par with the USA. But that isn't going to be for a long time yet. disclaimer: I'm not American

Nation Name: Bithynia Nation Link: https://politicsandwar.com/nation/id=12730

Hullo Seems like a nice community. I've been delayed posting here because apparently I did some heinous crime in the past and was banned from day 1 here :] I'm not very nice Iain

All glory &c Hey, I seem to have inherited an avatar from ages past...