All posts by Wideggg1

Japan, with its narrow waterways, could probably build sea walls easier for its cities, but despite this, many of its cities are directly on the coast and not in some cove, making sea wall construction more difficult. Meanwhile, much of the world's maritime trade would probably be shut down as countries tend to themselves fixing their problems, with ports flooded across the globe and sea walls blocking ships from leaving to the ocean. This is all the more important since Japan is an island nation, and it would need ships or planes to exert its power across Asia. It is just not in a strategic enough area. Even if Japan manages to build successful sea walls, the Japanese would have to worry about earthquakes, tsunamis, and more powerful hurricanes. With all of these burdens, Japan would likely be unable to militarize enough to actually establish spheres of influence. China and Korea are better picks in my opinion due to their better location, but China is a poor idea as well due to its demographic, water, and flooding problems which will likely occur in the future. Perhaps a united Korea is the best bet. It is located near China and Russia like Japan, but it actually is connected to the Asian mainland. Looking at sea level rise maps, Korea has even smaller waterways to build sea walls around to save its biggest cities, including Seoul and Pyongyang. With North Korea's military might and South Korea's economic power, uniting the two would lead to an establishment of a great power. North Korea would probably be annexed by the South as a first step to empire, and then the country could intervene in what was China and Russia. As Korea is more democratic, it could appeal to the West as a loyal power, so the West does not become aggressive enough to quickly to shut down Korea.