In this article, a Chinese news agency discusses the shifting power between China, Russia and the U.S. of A.  The article discusses the American lone superpower status and the reassertion of both Russian and Chinese power on the world stage.

The outgoing 2008 has also seen a large number of developing countries rise with increasing momentum.

From a geopolitical perspective, the center of world power is shifting from both sides of the Atlantic to the western Pacific region, as the emerging countries are mostly located in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.

 

In addition, there were regional 'consolidations' of power in several geographical areas:

The EU continued to boost the process of its integration. Except Ireland, the Czech Republic and Poland, all EU member nations have ratified the Lisbon Treaty, signed by EU heads of state and government in December 2007 and designed to reform EU institutions and streamline decision-making in the ever-enlarging union.

A charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),which was ratified by parliaments of 10 members of the regional bloc and formally entered into force on Dec. 15, clearly set the strategic goal of setting up an ASEAN community.

In Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) inaugurated a free trade area in August.

In October, the SADC and two other regional blocs, the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, held a summit in the Ugandan capital of Kampala to discuss Africa's economic integration.

Unless I am wrong, the EU Lisbon Treaty required all governments to approve it or it was unenforceable.   The previous attempt by EU countries to integrate under a constitution failed because both the Netherlands and France required a public plebiscite for approval.   The Dutch rejects a European integration by almost 2 to 1.

Dutch voters have rejected a proposed European Union constitution by a margin of 61.6 to 38.4 per cent, according to Dutch news agency ANP on Wednesday.

The probability of integrating 27 nations of various backgrounds, languages, histories and more into a single cohesive group is at least daunting and perhaps even foolish.

In further fascinating news,  Russian analyst Igor Panarin has been predicting the demise of the United States and its breakup into multiple entites.