The West if fearful of the rise of a mighty Soviet Union in
economic and military terms...If that ever happened, no one on
Earth will be able to stop the Soviet Union.
Even with the break up of the Soviet Union, the influence
is still there, lingering like a shadow over them, ready to come
back and pounce on them.
China may be on the rise, but it will not be a threat to the
West....the growth of its military, economy, trade come as no
surprise to anyone..it is a natural process.
Its technological progress is still years behind the West,
especially unmanned drones surveillance, guided weapon systems,
submarine technology.
That ground based laser system they have is only one of the
things they have managed to gain though. Expect more powerful and
accurate lasers from them.
Domestically, it still faces challenges enforcing the rule of
law.
Therefore, in order to catch up and be ahead of the West, China
has no choice but to abide by international rules and norms...
The same cannot be said for the Soviet Union though...The Soviet
Union can resurrect itself given enough resources....
Quite frankly, with a population of 142 million people(1 Jan
2008) i find it difficult to believe the Soviet Union was ever
great in the first place.
Like Europe after WW2 it was already badly devastated by the
German army. And it has spent the Cold War building up its ability
to keep its borders from the West who continously build bases and
missiles targetting them.
It is a military superpower because it has spent its natural
resources building it and nothing else. I really can't see it
becoming anything close to an economic superpower.
Perhaps a more accurate way of thinking is no country China,
India or Russia wishes to be opposing the West or anyone for that
matter. There's just more to be gained through peaceful trade than
outright war, always an extremely expensive endevour and the
returns are rarely worth it.