User blog comment:Ty Rezac/Superpowers/@comment-112.210.227.160-20141123084833

China will not be a supwepower in the near future. Many of its citizens still live in rural areas or to some extent caves. Although it will overtake the United States  as the largest economy by its GDP (PPP) America iwill remain number one in the nominal terms. Also the per capita GDP of China is very low and many of its citizens have a very low standard of living which is comparable to many African nations. Also China's military is not very advanced, compared to the United states of America. Also the many "fake products" we get come from China, which is quite damaging to china's reputation so it will not be a supwerpower for the near future. For now it would be an economic superpower with trading skills.

India may be industrious and hard working but many of its people still live in extreme poverty. Its sphere of influence is limited to a very small amount or nothing at all. India is too poor to be a superpower and it does not even have hegemony over any nation. I doubt it would be a superpower.

The European Union is an "incomplete superpower". Lack of a unified foregin policy and military would make it vulnerable to an invasion. In fact many people believe the EU would not survive. In fact German Chancellor Merkel said: unless the EU members surrender their sovereignity and united as the United States of Europe. For now the EU is an economic superpower having the largest economy in the world.

Brazil is possible. It has a good economy and pretty good standard of living. But unfortunately it has a quite high crime rate and high inequality (Gini coefficient) so let's hope that it gets solved soon and I'm sure it will.

Russia is an "acting superpower"; the heir to the superpower in the past. Even if Vladimir Putin denies any Russian's aspiration to be one, Russia is clearly showing hegemony to the former 14 Soviet Republics. To truly become a superpower, Russia must exert its sphere of influence and project a soft power, have a large army and air force, gain access to warm water ports (which is by far the hardest objective) so they can modernize their navy and be a trading power throughout the oceans and gain more allies in the world. If all these are sucessfully done then Russia will return to be a true superpower.