11-05-17 Time Magazine: US Becoming the USSR // La revista Time: Convertirse en EE.UU. la URSS // 时代周刊：美国成为苏联

Comment:
I can't believe I am posting Time magazine...  This is a tipping point of some sort, not sure what sort, yet... :)
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Veteran U.S. Diplomat: We Are Becoming the USSR

Posted by Mark Thompson Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:12 pm


Chas Freeman was President Nixon's interpreter during Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972. Now, nearly 40 years later, after an impressive diplomatic and defense career, he's interpreting China for the rest of us.
Last week he said:

The balance of prestige, if not yet the balance of power, between the United States and China has shifted...In some disturbing ways, Sino-American competition is beginning to parallel the contest between us and the Soviet Union in the Cold War. This time, however, the United States is in the fiscally precarious position of the USSR, while China plays the economically robust role we once did.

The worse news:

It is not just that China and others are regaining the regional preeminence they enjoyed before the now defunct era of Western colonialism. It is also that America's fractious politics are now dispiriting rather than inspiring to foreigners and citizens alike. The financial system and economic model of the United States have been discredited in the world's eyes. Few look to us for leadership on either global or regional issues, whatever their nature. Only our military power is fully respected. But, as we have shown the world in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya, there are limits to what military power alone can accomplish.

Read more:
http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/05/17/veteran-u-s-diplomat-we-are-becoming-the-ussr/#ixzz1Mpml1e7P