The American Century, Five Years Behind Us
There is a fascinating article by John Lancaster in today’s Washington Post, titled India, China Hoping to ‘Reshape the World Order’ Together. Long time foes, recent time edgy negotiators, China and India have just fallen into one another’s arms like star-struck lovers. Nudged, inadvertantly to be sure, by that arranger of strange marriages, America.
As much as any other recent event, this rapprochement may signal that our current century will not follow the last as a fully “American” century. We’ve had our run, it’s been a not-all-that-great hundred years that saw two world wars, a half century of cold war and an enormous wasting of worldwide resources that’s left our country rich, powerful, not very well liked and militarily dominant without all that much of a plan for how to use the power. It sneaked up on us. The wheels came off of communism and there we were.
Still, with 95% of this century yet to reveal itself, it’s a little premature to be making judgments. But I think we Am…