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America, In A Different World Now
Isn’t this a good thing?
China is doing many interesting things in the world. And so are many other countries. The world has come full circle.
Many years ago, it was Russia (as the USSR) and the United States. They had the world, all of it, in their grip. African countries were backed up by Russia and so they had Marxist economic policies and were dictatorships. The United States was spreading free market liberal democracy around like it was the answer.
All of this ended in 1989 when the USSR fell apart and the empire had to be broken up. Soviet republics gained their freedom. Even the USSR (Russia) went free market. The world became dominated by neoliberalism and America had no country to check it. It did what it wanted. Japan had economic power but it wasn’t in position anymore to challenge the U.S. No one could.
But that has now all changed. China has emerged as not just an economic power in the world but a player. China is making clever, geopolitical moves that continue to baffle and outflank the U.S. China’s economic rise is important because now other smaller nations, exploited and ripped off by America’s colonial proclivities, have choices. They have a different trade partner. They have a different economic partner. They have a buffer.
