SOC/HST 901 February 8, 2012 Chapter 2: The struggle for Primacy in a Global Society Very interesting chapter because

it gives definition to terms I thought I knew but did not. One example of a definition is the Elements of power that characterizes a country, nation or state to be powerful like geographic location, population and natural resources. I also thought it was interesting the difference between GNP and GDP and the meaning of Power Conversion that means not just having the resources to become powerful but the making it happen according to the definition of Power. The historical background and predictions are also very informative and a examination of the predictabilities. I am really interested in Asian culture and this chapter gave me a better insight into China potential rise into global dominance as a major challenger to Americas dominance. This idea is just reinforced by the fact that Chinas economy is growing 10% every year. The European Union is very interesting too and something I am not familiar with, something that is different from what we see in US, they shared power to become more powerful. Something else about this chapter is the list of countries with available nuclear weapons or the desire to develop them. This is a very interesting topic that definitely involves rise to power and Global Society.