I look at it this way:

China and India have begun to flex their manufacturing muscle.

By 2010 India will have rear-ended China in the production of engineers, etc. -- the "hard" fields, the fields needed to produce things. NOT business degrees, not liberal arts -- the sciences and engineering. They won't go to war over it, because both of them will carve up the global pie and there will be money to go around. The US, of course, will react like it did to Sputnik and throw money around in all directions, hoping that mere money will give the US the "lead" again in those fields. The UK will follow suit, but in a lower key.

By 2015 the world will be on the start of a post-petroleum society. But the technology needed will come from China and India, both of which may very well have manned orbiting space stations. By 2020 the US and the UK will no longer be powers to be reckoned with -- the Middle East and Africa will both be under the influence of India and China (it's starting already).

By 2030, India and China will both have lunar colonies and manufacturing facilities at L-5 points.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if by 2050 China and India merged into one huge nation-state. But, since I'll be 105 then I probably won't really care very much....