Eastern promise: Obama and Cameron in India and China

Global power has resided in the West for about 500 years. It was the all powerful Ottoman Empire that was finally pushed out of Spain during the 16th Century that marked the beginning the Western global domination.

But is the global tide turning once more? Today, two of the most powerful leaders in world President Barak Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron are both heading East to woo the emerging power houses of China and India.

President Obama is in India with an unprecedented business delegation of 200 top CEOs. This is no cultural visit. This is about business, power and influence.

Not to be out done, our own Prime Minister, along with his business secretary Vince Cable is on his first official visit to China. And whilst there are some who want the Prime Minister to talk to the Chinese about fostering better  human rights and democracy, Cameron’s main objective is to open up business opportunities for Britain.

Many observers see that both India and China combined could easily rival Europe and America in the very near future, if not already.  With China at present bank-rolling large sways of US debt and frantically investing in the infrastructure of many African nations, global power is inexorably moving from West to East.

So, what does all this mean? Some say we should worry, others argue that as India and China become stronger their markets will open up to the West benefitting everyone. One thing for sure is that Western domination, often coupled with arrogance, will have to think twice before imposing a narrow world view on any subject.

Looking further into the future many of us dream of time when the African continent will again be a global player that can automatically demand respect.

Simon Woolley