China overtook the US in terms of the size of the economy, IMF reported. Wow. Sure there are 1.3 billion people there in China. It has been anticipated for a long time that the Chinese industry overtake others. Proof? You look around. Everything we buy nowadays are made in China. The quality is improving over time for sure. And, they are not at war like the US is.
Is the Western style democracy facing a serious challenge?
The absolute but flexible authority in China, mostly consists of the technocrats, seems to have some advantage over the populism based the Western style democracy, which essentially now trying to start out a war in the Middle East, at the same place with same tactics, or no tactics at all rather than 'they all are barbarians' as the last war.
Just because the defense lobby can not buy technocrats in China, who know too well that war does not pay, just because they are no need for buying votes from their people by the 'strong (and barbaric) America' theme, their political play is not playing out on ordinary people who are more skeptical of the 'saving-Iraqis-by-bombing-Iraqis' hypos. The logic is simple. The war tax hikes are imminent; some of us will die; it will be devastating to our economy.
Now that our economy is taken over, it is time to realize what leads to the decline of the evil empire. Are we to colonize Iraq again?