This blog series has focused on the four leadership power sources: population, wealth, military strength, and foreign reach. These attributes give a society influence over other societies. Managing them effectively positions a society for future leadership; mismanagement leads to decline.
We saw how China actively manages its four leadership power sources. It has always had population. Now it is pursuing measures that increase wealth by fettering foreign competition and acquiring foreign technology. It has doubled its military spending in the last ten years. And its Belt and Road initiative extends its foreign reach deep into central Asia by recreating the Silk Road.
We examined how the sources interact to create power for a society. We examined how debt subtracts from wealth. We saw how the US is able to spend more on its military than anyone else because of its wealth. We examined how Japan’s declining population reduces its influence on the world stage. Then also saw how population is more than just the number of people a society has: it also includes the health and education of the society. Finally, we looked at foreign reach and how Russia is using the melting polar ice cap to increase its trade and influence around the world. We also noted how America loses foreign reach when it isolates itself from the rest of the world.
Effectively managing the four leadership power sources is the most immediate way a society can increase its in influence on the world stage. Other ways take longer and depend to some extent on serendipity, whereas the power sources can be managed as part of a society’s normal operations. American would be wise to take notice.
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