China would not have
achieved its current prosperity and prominence without "the
economic openness and global security provided by the United States,"
writes Princeton's Stephen Kotkin in the July/August edition of Foreign Affairs.
There's no doubt that China skillfully rode the pilot fish of U.S. post-war leadership for decades. Beijing was too smart to entangle itself in unnecessary wars, for example, and only too happy to see us do so.
There's even greater irony in Kotkin's assertion these days, however, given America's current retreat from global leadership. We certainly did help create a world in which China could recover from its internal self-destruction and grow. And yet, it is our lack of leadership right now - in Asia-Pacific trade, the trillion-dollar green energy market, African and Latin American affairs and across the entire chess board - that is accelerating the creation of a world in which China will surpass us economically - sooner rather than later.
Playing the "number 2" card for a period of time can work well as a business strategy or even an approach to national positioning. It often depends, however, on the predictable hubris, distraction and lethargy of the "number 1."
There's no doubt that China skillfully rode the pilot fish of U.S. post-war leadership for decades. Beijing was too smart to entangle itself in unnecessary wars, for example, and only too happy to see us do so.
There's even greater irony in Kotkin's assertion these days, however, given America's current retreat from global leadership. We certainly did help create a world in which China could recover from its internal self-destruction and grow. And yet, it is our lack of leadership right now - in Asia-Pacific trade, the trillion-dollar green energy market, African and Latin American affairs and across the entire chess board - that is accelerating the creation of a world in which China will surpass us economically - sooner rather than later.
Playing the "number 2" card for a period of time can work well as a business strategy or even an approach to national positioning. It often depends, however, on the predictable hubris, distraction and lethargy of the "number 1."
Image courtesy of Howard Lindzon