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17

Even if we set aside indicators such as gross national income per
capita (US$46,300 in the US; US$3,650 in China) or military
spending (US$687.105 billion in the US; US$114.300 billion in
China) that make it clear that the combined economic (G-8 and other
industrial nations) and military power of the West overwhelms that of
the Rest, the reality is that the Rest - occasionally being referred to as
the South - remains an amorphous amalgam of nation-states and
economies that have very little in common aside from some hostility -
which is receding - towards past European colonialism and American
hegemonism.
That Russia is both a member of the exclusive western club of the G-
8 and of the BRIC grouping is just one example of the complex
global reality in which governments like Russia, or for that matter
China, Turkey or Brazil, find US power to be appealing while at the
same time also trying to keep it at bay. Hence, the states and
economies which belong to the elusive Rest are seeking to penetrate
the markets of the US and the West and attract their investors, while
also hoping to reform global rules and institutions in a way that
would reflect their growing power.
But as Mexico failed in its attempt to win support from the South for
its candidate for leading the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
long-term interests of China or India may lead them to support the
current status quo in the institution. In fact, the G-20 that has been
touted as the new global grouping for projecting the rising power of
the Rest, has yet to demonstrate its effectiveness in charting a new
direction for the global economy.
Moreover, notwithstanding their occasional resort to anti-American
rhetoric, China and Russia which are leading members of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are each probably more worried
over the threat that the other poses to its security interests than the
US challenge.

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