If the West, especially the U.S. is unwilling and unyielding to UNBURDEN itself with the BURDEN of going against China in AN HONEST ASSESSMENT of its most potent challenger in its desire to stay the world's undisputed hegemon then I am sorry to say it will not succeed.
I come to the realization that American elites of all types (Academia, business, military, economists, historians etc.) are largely functioning and operating on inertia and old structures that were paved in cold hard sweat, tears, blood, and sweat. Their forefathers never took their greatest enemy of their time then Soviet Union for granted nor they underestimated the arduous challenge and might that Soviet Union imposed upon the West ably lead by the U.S.
I came upon this conclusion a long time ago, a lingering sense of laziness that emanates from American intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals that keep parroting anti-China trope that are either past its application, credibility, eligibility to the contemporary China and Chinese people. Most of these so-called China experts are unwilling to learn the Chinese language, culture, and the true essence of the society it wish to impress upon and ultimately subvert through their wishful imposition of American style oligarchy disguise as democracy.
They take advice from the likes of never right and often wrong Gordon Chang, FLG cultists/fanatics, false spies, business crooks, Chinese corrupt and criminal government officials, separatist assholes from Xizang, Xinjiang A.R. and best of all taking advice from an objective source of opinion: The Taiwanese separatists
Take the time to listen to this now retired French-Canadian intelligent officer's experience and damning assessment of how the military higher ups both from within the Canadian Armed Forces, the U.S. military and NATO were essentially creating the story and narrative about their "progress" in Afghanistan especially during the focused attention that Obama and his administration placed considerable priority as "THE RIGHT WAR."
The war and struggle could have never been won and will never be won when the U.S. and her allies were busy crafting fiction that the TALIBAN was a monolithic group within Afghanistan. Did not care to understand and study the TRIBAL STRUCTURE OF THE AFGHAN SOCIETY & how its societal, culture and mores differ greatly from that of the west. Lumping Islam into a single basket not realizing or too lazy to acknowledge and study that within Islam itself there's different sects namely Sunni, Shia, Whabbi, Salafi, Berelvi, Sufi and Deobandi (Seven Sects) have different perspectives on creativity in Islam. And Pashtun being the biggest/largest tribe in Afghanistan has its own governing principles that are anathema to many western peoples and countries. Without trying to belabor this Afghanistan situation, I am simply trying to point out that how is America and Americans writ large going to expect themselves to win and beat China when its unable to adopt and humble itself enough to study the very enemy that knows them far more than they know its supposed declared enemy?
For a country who prides itself on MILITARY STRATEGY and reading strategic thinkers that include but not limited to Clausewitz, Mackinder, Paul Kennedy, Kennan, and most importantly Sun-Tzu and one of his most often quoted quote:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
