Spheres of influence are emerging that will slowly but surely erode America’s global power from East Asia to the Middle East
There was a prescient headline in The Onion, the satirical publication, which read: “CIA uncovers Chinese plot to just sit back and enjoy collapse of United States.” And a photo caption said: “CPC president Xi Jinping actively engaged in the aggressive observation of American decay.”
It first appeared in 2014, but it’s even truer today. Look at the big messes Donald Trump has made at home and abroad. Another “forever war”, over Iran this time?
China’s foreign initiatives in recent years have been far less impressive than America’s own goals. For more than a decade now, Washington has wanted to concentrate all its powers on containing China. But it keeps getting sidetracked.
Just when there was a transatlantic consensus between Europe and the United States to confront China, Russia invaded Ukraine. That war effectively took the European Union out of the anti-China equation as it has been destabilising the societies and economies of major EU member states engaged in a proxy fight it can ill afford.
