Sometimes I think seriously about some serious matters. Similarly, last week I was thinking about how and where the world was going and I concluded the thoughts with invention(somebody may have done it earlier but I don't know about it!) of Power Transition Principle. Hope it would earn a Ph.D. for me from a reputed University:D LOL
So here we go! The basic idea behind my principle is that the power centre of the world is shifting in a pattern since ages and the shifting pattern is from east to west. I have considered Asia, Europe and Africa and America as the three players playing this game. Let's consider Asia as A, Europe and africa as B and America as C. So logic being the game is A passes the ball to B, B to C, C to A and the cycle moves on.
World's first
Organized civilization started off in Asia as Indus Valley
civilization(3300 BC). Though there had been many disorganized civilizations before Indus, IVC organized the society with a framework for the first time. Since it was first of it's kind, I consider Asia as the first power center. I will not go into the details of Indus Valley Civilization as it's not the topic of the post.(An article on Wikipedia might help you out in that context http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization)
As Indus Valley civilization was growing, Egypt took off to a great historic civilization(3050 BC) and hence became the second power center of the world. I won't exactly call shifting of power to this as the world was isolated back then and growth of Egyptian civilization didn't really hurt Indian but Egypt even attracted Indians which I consider is a virtual shift of power and knowledge.
There was not much time gap between these two civilizations but Indian Civilization had gone too far in this 200 years of gap.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt
Here comes America with the invent of Mayas. he
Maya civilization is a
Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed
written language of the
pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its spectacular
art, monumental
architecture, and sophisticated
mathematical and
astronomical systems.(Wikipedia) As the world was isolated, Mayas didn't make any difference to already developed civilizations in Asia and Africa/ Europe but they were special in their own way and contributed a lot towards development of Americas.(South and North.)
The real power shift started from the second cycle of civilizations when Mughal empire truly conquered a larger part of Asia. Mughal and other Islamic civilizations prospered in this era. This was a true head start to what we really call as globalism (Don't include America).
While Mughal empire was on it's peak in Indian subcontinent, Industrial revolutions started in Europe which resulted in technological, social and commercial developments. The wheel of power again shifted to Europe region from Asia.
Then came the world war II which brought America into the scene. America took the opportunity to lead the world considering the inability of war shaken European nations.
For past 60 years, America had been world's power center especially after the defeat of Soviet Union. America made the world truly globalized by strategically using resources of underdeveloped countries for it's benefits.
In old times, this power center could have lasted for a millennium but gone are the days when people used to travel by bullock carts. The shifts are going to be rapid once in near future and no region can expect to hold the privilege of being powerful for a large chuck of time.
All are witnessing the power shift from America to India and China which is quite complementary to my theory considering the recession in the US and the scenario in the global ground.
I might have missed some important civilizations like the Romans, China etc. but every rule has exception and guess my theory couldn't accomodate them.
I'm an Engineer, not a historian but I have made the effort to present my intuitive study about the power shifts. I hope you would like it. Suggestions and inpus are welcome.
