It's easy to overstate both the rise of Asia and the degree to which they could supplant U.S. influence. As a benchmark, per capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity (which strips out currency fluctuation and standard of living differences and therefore gives the most robust relative index) in the U.S. is $46,000; for China it is $7,000 and India a mere $3,000. These standings are reinforced by their correlation with Transparency International's corruption index and states' rankings on the UN Human Development Index.
Asia is rising, but more slowly and with much more difficulty than we often acknowledge.
