America’s Superpower Panic — Brad DeLong

History suggests that a global superpower in relative decline should aim for a soft landing, so that it still has a comfortable place in the world once its dominance fades. By contrast, US President Donald Trump's incoherent, confrontational approach toward China could seriously damage America’s long-term interests....

In my view, there are two major or core factors not usually mentioned that need to be considered along with the many others, central and peripheral.

The first is that the US came out of WWII the victor economically, in that the rest of the major economies were destroyed. This results in a sense of entitlement based on American exceptionalism. This further led the US to adopt a policy of permanent US global hegemony as "the leader of the free world" and guarantor of the post-war liberal world order. Wilsonianism, with its foreign policy idealism and liberal interventionism followed. As a consequence, the US became an empire, which result in "internal contradictions," and the political rise of the military-industrial complex (MIC) and a "deep state."

The trend is in conflict with the second factor, which has two major factors. 

The first of these is the inevitable catching-up that took place as the destroyed countries rebuilt and undeveloped countries began to develop into emerging countries. As a result the US began losing its edge, which was inevitable, of course. But the US has yet to accept this, especially the elite that rule the world, or think they do.

The second is the concomitant de-colonization that occurred with the formerly great empires were pretty much forced to abandon their colonies owing to the workings of the historical dialectic. This process of de-colonization is in full swing now as emerging nations seek to determine their own futures based on their perceived interests, their traditions, and their aspirations. This often puts them in conflict with the liberal world order and US "leadership," which is turning more into dictat. The result is incipient resentment of and conflict with a Western-based alliance whose policy is based on neoliberalism, the concomitants of which are neo-imperialism and neocolonialism.

Project Syndicate
America’s Superpower Panic
Brad DeLong | Professor of Economics, UCAL Berkeley

The Real Reason for China’s Rise — Zhang Jun

The standard account of China’s economic rise focuses on its state capitalism, whereby the government, endowed with huge assets, can pursue a wide-ranging industrial policy and intervene to mitigate risks. This explanation is wrong.…

Project Syndicate
The Real Reason for China’s Rise

Zhang Jun | Dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University and Director of the China Center for Economic Studies, a Shanghai-based think-tank

Alastair Crooke — Western Wishful Thinking – ‘Excluding Everything That Makes China What It Is’

Clash of cultures, and economies.

Strategic Culture Foundation
Western Wishful Thinking – ‘Excluding Everything That Makes China What It Is’

Alastair Crooke | founder and director of the Conflicts Forum, and former British diplomat and senior figure in British intelligence and in European Union diplomacy

Jeff Brown — Button up yer bungholes boys n’ girls, cuz Baba Beijing is bringing on the badass

 

Russian and Chinese military capability versus US.

The Vineyard of the Saker

Button up yer bungholes boys n’ girls, cuz Baba Beijing is bringing on the badass

Jeff Brown

Crossposted from China Rising

James Petras — Imperialists’ Fear and Loathing. . . of being Colonized

Now the imperialist colonizers are afraid of being colonized by China rising.

What's that about what you sow, so shall you reap?

James Petras Website
Imperialists’ Fear and Loathing. . . of being Colonized
James Petras | Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

See also

Sputnik International
China Seeking Both Economic and Military Dominance by Use of AI – Prof

Jiang Shigong — Jiang Shigong on ‘Philosophy and History: Interpreting the “Xi Jinping Era” through Xi’s Report to the Nineteenth National Congress of the CCP’

With an introduction by David Ownby and Timothy Cheek.

From the intro:

This essay by Jiang Shigong 强世功 (b. 1967), published in the Guangzhou journal Open Times (开放时代) in January 2018, aims to be an authoritative statement of the new political orthodoxy under Xi Jinping 习近平(b. 1953) as Xi begins his second term as China’s supreme leader. It offers a new reading of modern Chinese history in general and the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in particular, arguing that Xi Jinping’s ‘thought’ (sixiang 思想) is the culmination of a century’s historical process and philosophical refinement, produced through the ongoing dialectic of theory and practice. This is ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era’ 习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想, which Jiang defends as the new ideological superstructure to the material base of China’s economy after nearly forty years of ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’. Although the language bears considerable resemblance to the propagandistic slant of People’s Daily editorials, Jiang’s text is not a specious rant, but an intelligent and penetrating critique of the limits and failures of the liberal democratic system. It also offers a considered case for an alternative way of viewing politics and history that defends the past actions and current legitimacy of the CCP and holds up Xi Jinping as the man of the hour to complete China’s century-long recovery of its dominant place in the world....

Longish but important in the larger scheme of things. This is where China believes it is going and is planning on going, based on the mandate of Heaven passing from the upstart West to back China as the Central Realm. This is interesting in that China is now being upfront about this. This signals that the China leadership is confident in the rising strength of China on the world stage. China is not about to become an vassal in the an American Empire it views as declining morally as well as socially, stubbornly refusing to learn from its mistake, while China is rising, having learned its bitter lesson.

The intro is short and provides a summary of Jiang's article if you choose to skip it or save for the weekend.

The China Story (Australia)
Jiang Shigong on ‘Philosophy and History: Interpreting the “Xi Jinping Era” through Xi’s Report to the Nineteenth National Congress of the CCP’

Jiang Shigong | Professor at Peking University Law School

See also

Xi also said that China firmly supports multilateralism, maintaining the multilateral trading system and building an open world economy.

Ecns
Xi tells Ban Ki-moon: China's door of opening up will open even wider

CGTN | Editor: Gu Liping

China is taking the lead on North Korea.

Ecns
DPRK to learn from China's opening-up

China Daily

P.H. Yu — China Won’t Wait

China’s rise is both unambiguous and unstoppable, whether the West likes it or not. Refusing to acknowledge reality will only generate more tension – and more risk, because failing to accommodate China will destabilize the rules-based order on which the world has come to rely.…

The handwriting is on the wall, but in Chinese characters that few in the West seem to be able to read. Uh oh. Collision course.

This post can be read as advice to the liberal West, or as a warning — or both.

Project Syndicate
China Won’t Wait
P.H. Yu | Chairman of the Council of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University

Sara Hsu — China’s Bid To Assist Assad In Syrian Reconstruction Is About Security and Profit

Even as the West favors airstrikes against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and steers clear of supporting the president in rebuilding Syria, China has stated that it is interested in reconstructing the war-torn nation, and Chinese firms are lining up to become part of the process. The reconstruction cost is expected to amount to $250 billion, according to the United Nations. China’s motivations are apolitical, and are not aimed at opposing the policies of Western nations. Rather, China is propelled by economic and security reasons to take part in rebuilding Syria....

Positioning.

Mao famously said, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

This assumes the ability to construct military power, and that requires a developed economy.

WWI and WWII made it clear that, as the economic powerhouse with a strong manufacturing base,  the US could create more weapons faster than anyone else while lasting longer. And the US showed that it could continuously innovate as well.

Understanding this is at the basis of Chinese geostrategy.

Being a larger country than the US and having developed a strong manufacturing base, China is positioned for global leadership as the 21st century unfolds. If it plays its cards right. Notice that the current emphasis of the CCP under President Xi Jinping is "innovation."

In addition, China needs resources and markets but it is not inclined to make the mistake of repeating colonialism. Rather, China is positioning itself as friend and facilitator. The Chinese motto in international relations is "win-win."

This a pretty good post but the author feels obligated to point out China's willingness to engage in what the liberal West criticizes but itself practices.

China has previously provided funds to the Assad regime during the crisis, and does not appear to have any qualms about Assad’s brutal governance tactics. China has proven that it is often unwilling to involve itself in foreign conflicts unless it will benefit from intervention, even when worst practices are being carried out.

Sound familiar?

Triple Crisis
China’s Bid To Assist Assad In Syrian Reconstruction Is About Security and Profit

Sara Hsu | Assistant Professor of Economics at the State University of New York at New Paltz