The power blocs have shifted and are no longer concentrated to particular regions in the twenty first century. In addition to this the strength of the countries keeps on changing and is very dynamic in nature. Some of these have been due to the rapid technological developments which have seen the necessity of newer resources. Also the process of industrialization and marketing has also seen a newer approach from what it was earlier. Prior to the twentieth century most of the market was concentrated to and limited in the imperialistic countries of Europe and United States.
The concentration of the companies was to create goods using ready resources and cheap labor and sell in their own regions. This belief has completely gone a change in recent times. The post decolonization period was followed by a period of pseudo-colonization where the markets were still in the Europe and North America, however this time the producers were the newer countries. This meant that the money that came from the trade went to these newer countries which started to grow economically. The relatively high population density combined with the economic growth in these regions meant that these places could become new market zones.
The fact was quickly assessed by the goods manufacturers in the west who soon made rapid entries in these markets. However, these new areas were always given the usually third world country status which affected the sensibilities of people living in these areas. The problems chiefly faced now is due to the fundamentalist elements present in these countries who consider the western countries as their enemies, and also blame their own government and people if they have an open and liberal outlook towards these people. This fact can be termed as international terrorism which is one of the chief problems of the twentieth century.
Yet another problem faced by the world today is the domestic terrorism. The roots for this type of terrorism lie to an extent on the colonial expansion by the countries who divided the areas into regions using agreement with fellow colonists. In the process many regions had been divided where there was a majority of certain ethnicity and a host of other minorities. At the time when these states became independent there were major problems due to these minorities who in the least conflict situations wish to have special status within the community.
At the extreme end the minorities fight and spread terror in the regions to the remaining people of the community or nation. This problem is rampant in many of the Southeast Asian, African, and Latin American countries (Durch, 2006). The rapid industrialization among the many existing countries has also brought about the issue of superiority which is another source of conflict. Initially the United Nations had a fixed number of countries as its number, and only five countries were in its security council which was considered to be coveted position.
However, with the rapid economic growth of countries in the Southeast Asian regions, some of these countries too wish to be a part of the internal group which is viewed suspiciously by the countries in the west. This is a constant source of debate. The conflicts are also aggravated by the fact that previously many of the western countries enjoyed their superiority and closely monitored the progress and decision made by these countries and put economic bans when they felt some decisions were not right. The rapid economic growth also has hampered the effect of such bans as many countries do not really care about such impositions.
The western countries are rightly worried about the impact this has on the world security as they feel that the newer countries are not mature enough to handle the growth (Durch, 2006). The country that had been hailed as the superpower of the twentieth century – the United States, has also seen many changes in its political, economic and social conditions. The economic growth which was responsible for its strength in the twentieth century is still present, however much of this success is attributed to the Asian immigrants in the country which has been a source of grudge to the local population.
This has led to the country facing internal troubles from various sections of the society. While the country is politically stable, the country cannot decide if the liberal approach would be better in the modern day world or the previously held conservative approach (Morrison, Tsipis, 1998). The two would lead to very different and far reaching effects for both United States and the World and so the decision becomes a very critical one. United States due to its economic as well as moralist strength was seen by many countries to be the one with the capabilities to settle international disputes.
This was seen in the decisive roles which the country played in both the world wars as well as the post cold war. However, many of the present decisions of the country have been seen to be as interfering by both the international community as well as the local population. The newer countries say that they do not need external mentors while the local population wishes the country to progress more on its own growth rather than the problems faced by the rest of the world. All these situations have left United States in a confusing position with respect to its domestic as well as international policy.This should be cleared if the country wishes to retain its international status and stature.
References
Books Betts R F (2004), Decolonization, Roultedge Christie CJ (1996), A Modern History of Southeast Asia: Decolonization Nationalism And Separatism, I B Tauris Durch WJ (2006), Twentieth-century Peace Operations, US Institute of Peace Press Fitzpatrick S (2001), The Russian Revolution, Oxford University Press Frey M (2004), The Transformation of the South East Asia, National University of Singapore Press