Hi Mike

Submitted by Lars Nielsen (Denmark), Mar 1, 2014 at 10:39

I agree very much on Your comments on China, life in the west and Israel. Never the less, I believe, that China will continue to grow faster than the west for considerable time. In my imagination, they will stop growing so fast, when average income per head equals ours. Just as happened to Japan. But then, their GNP will be 3-4 times that of the US, and greater than NAFTA and EU together.

However, this may not be the worst scenario. The worst case could be an economic breakdown in China leading to massive armaments race and even war. That was exactly what happened to Germany and Japan in the thirties.

As to Russia, I dont consider them a threat to China. Of course, they have a huge nuclear arsenal. But what could be gained from Russia attacking China ? In my imagination, Russia is a country rich of raw materials surrounded by 2 gigantic industrial powers. Their aim will be to keep control of these resources and supply their two neighbours at the highest price possible.

At last, I dont' think previous presidents were more aggressive than Obama. During the cold war, USA acted very cautious to the Soviet Union, because of the immanent danger of an all out nuclear war. After the breakdown of the Soviet Union, USA has acted more boldly. But the costs have been high and the gains doubtful. In my eyes, Obama has a more realistic view on the use of military force. In fact he reminds me of Eisenhower, who also preferred pinpoint assassinations of hostile leaders abroad in stead of costly military operation.

Best regards

LARS

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".