Friend of the Future Profile: China

Despite being the world's most populous country. China has the power to completely destabilize the entire planet at any given moment. They have a massive military and nuclear weapons, a history full of war and conflict, a secretive and rather oppressive government, and the motivation and dedication to reach long term goals.

In the last decade China has experienced incredible economic growth. This was achieved by making China a favorable place to manufacture goods with cheap labor, an artificially undervalued currency, and no real laws to speak of regarding pollution. China is the world's largest sulpher dioxide pollutor, probably the largest of multiple other toxins, and will be the largest greenhouse gas producer by this year, contributing heavilly to disease and cancer in their own country, as well as climate change and ocean pollution globally.

No one can know what China will do, but the potential for them to get involved in a war, or just to contribute heavily to poisoning the planet is very great. What's not to love?