September 28th, 2010
Walter Russell Mead has an essay arguing that China is currently following the diplomatic path to ruin established by the Kaiser: That having achieved regional hegemony, the Chinese are doing the one thing most problematic for the future ambitions–uniting their weaker neighbors against them and pushing these smaller states into closer alliance with the United States.
That’s fine, so far as it goes. Oh sure, maybe India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Indonesia, and some other piddling nation-states will ally to check Chinese power. But what will that mean against China’s network of ultra-modern airports and high-speed trains? And while WRM obsesses over all this “hard power,” he misses the most significant fact about modern Chinese dominance: They are going to own the electric car industry.
It’s as if we’re all playing checkers, but the Chinese are playing chess, man.
Larry, San Francisco September 28, 2010 at 7:39 pm
From my understanding, Meade is heavily read in China. Interesting if it would cause any reaction. Also, isn’t it time to start playing the anti-missile card. Shouldn’t we be working with Taiwan and Japan on effective ABM technology. I think that would really get China’s attention.