In 2100, which country will have the strongest military?

Europe is a continent and the Middle East is a region
just to edit th poll choices.

Europe won't be unified for long, they've been fighting for 6,000 years, I really doubt that this 50 years of peace and unity will continue on indefinitely.  I also think China is set for another round of internal convulsions when the communists finally fall.  The Chinese military is also of very poor quality, and if she even started approaching the United States in terms of power, America would have a greater base from which to draw resources to build up their military, especially after Chinese living standards rise to the point where they no longer have their nice trade surplus and their government can't buy military toys with dirty sweatshop cash.

Edited by Genghis

At the moment 5 countries have nukes + ICBM's. Britain, France, US, Russia and China in reality they are all equally the most powerful countries in the world. Press one button and 3 mins later a continent is vapourised and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it.

Several other countries, Argentina, India, Brazil, Pakistan, Israel have nukes, but no ICBM's. Though all have the technology to develop them.

Many other countries, South Africa, Japan, European countries, Mexico and so on.... all have the technology to develop nukes and ICBM's but choose not to.

Many countries are on the brink of developing nuke and/or ICBM's Syria, Iran, N Korea,

And all this in just 50 years. 100 years on I'd guess 75% of all the countries on earth are going to be equaly the most powerful country in the world

haha india was the dumbbest vote. It was such a poverty stricken country even in another 96 years it would still be full of poverty.

I suspect that China will be flexing her military muscles, and that the USA will be on its way out.

 

Originally posted by Genghis America won't be on its way out for several hundred years.

 

Believe what you want to believe, if it makes you feel better.

Originally posted by Catt For which reasons do you think the US will be out so fast, where do you believe it will be in 2100?

It just seems to me that the US government has made increasingly bone-headed choices in recent years--the mess in Iraq being the most obvious.  I certainly "support our troops", but I also think it is a crime that they have to be used as cannon fodder, in what appears to be a misguided campaign. 

As for the ultimate waning of US power, I suspect that it may come sooner than others think.  Another friend of mine thinks it may happen within only 50 years or so.  Everything has become increasingly fragmented on the home front, and, militarily, we're spread rather thin.

Right now, I see the USA as being vaguely akin to the Byzantine Empire before Manzikert--i.e., still powerful, but it might just take a single crucial event (military, economic, or otherwise) to ruin everything.

Please excuse my pessimism.

America is nowhere near as strained as Byzantium, we aren't even as strained as we were during the Cold War.  Byzantium was also beset by powerful enemies on all sides, America is relatively protected.  I just don't think there could be a force that could weaken us to such an extent in the next hundred or so years as to make us lose our growing military supremacy, especially in technology.

If the UK gets more invovled with European affairs i think Europe could gain an edge.. for awhile..

"America is nowhere near as strained as Byzantium, we aren't even as strained as we were during the Cold War.  Byzantium was also beset by powerful enemies on all sides, America is relatively protected.  I just don't think there could be a force that could weaken us to such an extent in the next hundred or so years as to make us lose our growing military supremacy, especially in technology."

That's what the Chinese were thinking in the late 15th century of the Ming while it was still the most advanced nation on earth and became cocky. But, China's power declined soon after that with its closed door policy.

The US is having facing a modern version of the same problem.

The US has closed it door to foreign voice and is doing everything its way just like China 500 years ago.