New World Order - Indonesia

Population: 237 million

Area: 1.9 million km²

GDP: $ 1 trillion

GDP (per capita): $ 4,700

Economic Growth: 6.4%

Democracy? Yes

Despite being the fourth largest country in the world, when most people think of a new world order, they don’t think of Indonesia. Although it will never become a global superpower, I do believe it will one day challenge the Wests dominance.

One of Indonesia’s biggest disadvantages is how dispersed it is, it is made up of over 17,000 islands although over half (133 million) live on the island of Java. This still leaves 100 million people on other islands. This hampers Indonesia as it makes travelling within Indonesia difficult as a boat or plane must always be used. Although this could have its advantages, shipping by boat is still the most popular way to transport goods, by the nature of having many islands; no part of Indonesia is too far from the coast.

One way this could at least by partially remedied is by a series of tunnels or bridges. A bridge is already currently being constructed between the country’s two most populous islands, Java and Sumatra. It wouldn’t be unthinkable either to link Bali to Java or Sumatra to Malaysia. The latter would thus connect the capital Jakarta to the continent of Asia. Bridges or tunnels would be attractive in the above situations, but may not extend to some of Indonesia’s other large islands such as Borneo, Sulawesi or New Guinea. Here it may prove too expensive or even impossible to link these islands to the more populous southern islands.

Below is a map of Indonesia, the red islands on the map are islands that have a population greater than one million. Pink represents another country.

Indonesia’s growing economy can be seen by some recent events. Until 2009 Indonesia was a member of OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), it had to leave the group in 2009 because domestic demand was so high that it was no longer a net oil exporter. Oil is a good measure of the wealth of a nation as it is necessary for all major industries; the more oil a country requires, the more industry and wealth a country has.

Yet like all the other developing nations poverty is still a major issue in Indonesia, at only $4,700 GDP per capita, Indonesia is still in the rank of poor nations.

Jakarta - the Capital of Indonesia

The New World Order

Between the Age of Discovery in the 15^th century and World War Two, European nations ruled the world, both directly and indirectly. The colonial Empires of Spain and Portugal dominating in the early years of Empire, but they were eventually leapfrogged by the French and British Empires, and to a lesser extent the Dutch Empire. Russia, Germany, Austria and Italy also played an important role, especially in the later years. By the time the 20^th century dawned the world was changing, Japan and the US were emerging powers and Germany was threatening the balance of power within Europe itself. The two World Wars that followed devastated Europe, both economically and politically, immediately after WWII the empires of France and Britain fell apart and the UK handed superpower status to the USSR and USA. Yet Europe was far from unimportant, the USSR was a European country after all, and Germany, France and Britain still commanded significant influence. But with the fall of the USSR in the early 1990s, for the first time in modern history, the most powerful and important nation was not a European one, rather the USA.

So I think I’ve made my point, countries rise and fall and everyone has to adapt to the new world order brought about every century or so. Although Europe is still far from unimportant, of the top 20 economies, nine are European and of the five countries with a veto on the UN Security Council, three are European.

The Question is where is the world heading? Who will be the new countries on the scene, which nations will challenge western power?

The truth is nobody really knows, but there are certainly contenders. Over the next few days I will write about countries I believe could take the mantle of power from the West. The big debate surrounds whether China will eventually best the USA or will another country be the one to overtake America?

The following are the countries I believe have a chance of besting the west:

1.       China – the favourite to become the next superpower

2.       India – A rising nation with a population set to become bigger than China

3.       Brazil – the big boy of the South American economies

4.       Mexico – the rising star that may not be if drug lords have their way

5.       Indonesia – the island nation could be a surprise winner

6.       Africa – as a continent it will not take power any time soon – but its day will surely come 

New World Order Countries in red