by smiley » Wed 10 Aug 2011, 18:14:47
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'C')hina challenging the US.........
Methinks not. China is owned by Western capitalism
If you would have said to any British resident in 1760 that one day they would loose world domination to one of their former colonies, he would probably laugh at you and give you a similar answer as you just did.
Greece, England, Italy, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Russia, all these countries have had the position of "leader of the civilised world" for a period of time. China itself has held this position for many centuries. All it takes is weakness of the leading nation and the strength of another to reverse these positions, and that does not always involve a war.
Right now we have such a moment in time. The US is arguably not in the best of shapes (being economically struck and internally divided), while China both has the size and momentum to pose a challenge. Moreover the rest of the world Europe,Russia and the Middle East, are bystanders as they are occupied with their own problems.
Things change around the world and for some reason the changes always seem to surprise everyone, especially those who are the subject of this change.
Of course when the scholars have had their go at it and have analized and explained everything to bits the event has been stored in our collective memories as a logical train of causes and consequences. But the main event that set this chain off is often only realized for its importance afterwards. Who would have predicted that the election of Solidarity would lead to the fall of Communism.
Perhaps we will later recognize this downgrade as such an event. What I do know is that last weekend I saw a speech of a US president that I have not witnessed in my lifetime. Even under the greatest of challenges the US presidents have been able to deliver a speech of unity, defiance and on the path forward, Obama came no further than reflecting on the current situation, seeking excuses for it happening, and seeking arguments to downplay its importance.