Resurfaced 1925 Cartoon Predicts Emergence of China, India, Africa in Dispute over Trump's Tariffs
In 2024, a historical political cartoon from 1925 resurfaced on LinkedIn, igniting discussions about the changing dynamics of global power. The cartoon, created by American cartoonist Bob Minor for the socialist Chicago newspaper Daily Worker, depicted a shift in global power away from US, British, and French dominance towards the rise of China, India, and Africa.
The cartoon showed towering figures representing China, India, and Africa overshadowing smaller figures symbolizing Western imperialism, with a grinning Soviet soldier in the background. This visual representation of a communist viewpoint, predicting the decline of Western powers, has found fresh resonance in 2024.
RL Narayanan, a LinkedIn user, shared the cartoon with the caption indicating that 100 years after its creation, BRICS (an alliance of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is shaping a multipolar world. The post has gone viral, receiving significant engagement with many likes, comments, and reshares.
One user wrote that it is important to understand and realize one’s strength, while another commented that the universe follows the sine curve and nothing stays the same, emphasizing the importance of being grounded, balanced, and grateful. RL Narayanan also quoted Chanakya, stating "Before you start a war, count the cost of victory and the cost of the enemy’s revenge." He further emphasized the importance of strategy, stating "an uncalculated move against a rising power may win the day but lose the era."
The timing of the cartoon's resurgence coincides with heated debates over Donald Trump's trade policy, particularly tariffs imposed on key manufacturing and service economies like India. However, it is important to note that the post does not mention Donald Trump or his trade policy.
BRICS collectively represents 40% of the global population and a $30 trillion GDP. The cartoon's message resonates strongly as China, India, and many African nations have since become major economic and geopolitical players. Analysts and commentators have pointed to this prediction as illustrating the current global political climate marked by the rise of these regions, multipolarity in world power, and shifting alliances such as within BRICS.
Thus, Minor’s cartoon is relevant today as a symbolic foresight of a major geopolitical transition from Western-centric to multipolar global influence, emphasizing demographic and economic shifts that shape current international relations and trade conflicts. The cartoon's resurgence has intensified discussions on whether Bob Minor's vision of a shift in global power is now becoming a reality.
[1] Historical Context of Bob Minor's 1925 Political Cartoon
[2] The Relevance of Bob Minor's 1925 Political Cartoon in 2024
[3] BRICS: A Force to Reckon With in the 21st Century
[4] The Rise of China, India, and Africa: A Shift in Global Power
- The 1925 political cartoon by Bob Minor, which recently resurfaced on social-media platform LinkedIn, is a depiction of the predicted decline of Western powers and the rise of China, India, and Africa, and has found new resonance in the context of the 2024 debate over policy-and-legislation related to Donald Trump's finance and trade policy.
- The reemergence of this historical political cartoon has intensified discussions about the changing dynamics of global power and the general-news issue of the rise of China, India, and Africa, with many people on LinkedIn pointing out the significance of strategy in business and politics.
- In 2024, the post about Bob Minor's 1925 cartoon has gone viral, with BRICS, an alliance representing 40% of the global population and a $30 trillion GDP, shaping a multipolar world as major players in global business, social-media, war-and-conflicts, and entertainment.
- This historical political cartoon exemplifies the shift in global power towards China, India, and Africa that was previously only a prediction, but is now becoming a reality, as these regions are increasingly important in global finance, policy-and-legislation, and international relations.
