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I haven't read much of the thread but I'll pitch in my two cents on the type of nations that will be world dominating forces in the future.
Here are some criteria (be kind, this is off-the-cuff):
1. Nations with a very high level of urbanization and population density (i.e., usually, smaller island nations)
2. Access to large amount of, not necessarily native, man-power (the more skilled the better).
3. Deep integration of high-tech, communications, and information services on a national level
4. Strong leadership (I was going to say "good leadership" but most likely these leaders will be barely distinguishable from villains in our lifetimes and for several subsequent generations)
5. World financial centers
I think Singapore and Hong Kong are probably the best bets. They have China and other resources to draw on, are rich enough to build world-class armies, and have technological penetration outdoing all but perhaps South Korea and Taiwan (maybe Finland, too?).
Taiwan gets some bonus points for having very strong ties to certain areas of mainland China (the province name doesn't pop immediately to mind).
South Korea is another decent bet. They have to maintain military vigilance because of their friends to the north, Seoul is a world city (one of the most well connected in the world), and they have a reasonable agricultural base.
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