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Emmanuel Todd: World War III has already begun

Emmanuel Todd at home in Paris. Credit: Getty.

January 16, 2023 - 2:00pm

The third world war has already started, according to one of France’s leading intellectuals, Emmanuel Todd. Speaking to Le Figaro last week, the anthropologist and historian claimed that, contrary to the prevailing idea that Russia has more to lose than its liberal opponents, the West, too, has entered into an “existential” conflict. 

“It’s obvious that the [Ukraine] conflict, which started as a limited territorial war and escalated to a global economic confrontation between the whole of the West on the one hand and Russia and China on the other hand, has become a world war,” Todd told the French newspaper. He acknowledged that Vladimir Putin had made a miscalculation at the beginning of the conflict, assuming that Ukraine would roll over at the first sign of aggression, but made clear that Russia has itself exceeded expectations, including those of its own people, who “did not anticipate” that they would be able to withstand economic pressure from NATO. 

Todd, who has in the past been critical of the western international order, wrote a book called After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order more than 20 years ago. During the interview, he expanded on his thesis, saying that “the resistance of the Russian economy [to sanctions] is pushing the American imperial system towards the precipice.” He added that, if Russia “managed to exhaust the European economy, while maintaining Chinese backing, American monetary and financial controls of the world would collapse, and with them the possibility for the United States to fund their huge trade deficit for nothing.” 

The historian largely agreed with the analysis of the international relations professor and proponent of ‘realist’ foreign policy John Mearsheimer that “from their point of view, the Russians are in a war that is defensive and preventive […] Because this is an existential question for them, they will strike back harder.” However, Todd suggested that his American counterpart “overestimates his country” in thinking that the US sees their involvement in Ukraine as “one game of power among others” and that the long-held belief of American exceptionalism is unjustified. 

“No more than Russia, [America] cannot withdraw from the conflict, they cannot let go,” Todd claimed, “This is why we are now in an endless war, in a confrontation whose outcome must be the collapse of one or the other.” The additional prospect of China waging a cold war against the West will lead to the rise of developing countries like India, according to the French thinker, while Europe declines.

Despite the US being twice as populated as Russia, Todd said, only 7% of American students focus on engineering, compared to 25% in Russia. “The US fills the gap with foreign students, but they’re mainly Indians and even more Chinese,” he went on, “It is a dilemma of the American economy: it can only face competition from China by importing skilled Chinese labour.” 

Additionally, the soft power of American and Western European liberalism is not as appealing as we might think. “For the collective non-West, Russia affirms a reassuring moral conservatism,” Todd noted. Indeed, it is not Putin who is isolated: “When we look at the votes at the UN, we see that 75% of the world does not follow the West, which then seems very small.” In what has been termed ‘the age of the strongman’, America and its ideological bedfellows are looking increasingly fragile.


is UnHerd’s Deputy Editor, Newsroom.

RobLownie

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Matt M
Matt M
1 year ago

only 7% of American students focus on engineering, compared to 25% in Russia. “The US fills the gap with foreign students, but they’re mainly Indians and even more Chinese,” he went on, “It is a dilemma of the American economy: it can only face competition from China by importing skilled Chinese labour.” 

This is now a real dilemma for the West. I can’t speak for the US but in the UK we really need to stop taxpayer-backed student loans for non-STEM subjects except for the very brightest students. Unless you are a straight A student, subjects like economics, psychology, English lit or history shouldn’t be undergraduate options. We should be funneling B- and C-grade students into engineering courses (ideally degree apprenticeships). We need lots of technically literate home-grown graduates, we don’t need that many sociologists.

Last edited 1 year ago by Matt M
Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

No. We need A grade students doing engineering. And staying in engineering after graduating, rather than going into the City.
If it’s important, you want the very best students doing the subject.

Matt M
Matt M
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

That is also true. Of course you want to encourage the bright ones to choose engineering. And hopefully the rewards will follow keeping them out of the clutches of the quants.

But you don’t need to be a stellar mind to become a civil engineer or a software developer. You just need to be encouraged (forced) to spend a few years studying those courses rather than Peace Studies or whatever

Last edited 1 year ago by Matt M
Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

You do need a stellar mind to be a stellar civil engineer or software developer though. And the difference between best and average in these fields is enormous.
So yes, we need more entrants at all levels. But it needs to be a high prestige activity attracting the brightest students in order to draw in more students.
Good luck “forcing” people to do engineering. Not going to work. There are easier options for people who want an easier life. You can’t bluff your way in engineering either – you need to produce stuff and it needs to work. And you get caught out fairly quickly if it doesn’t.

Matt M
Matt M
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

I am very impressed by the current government Apprenticeship schemes. There are a number of entry points from age 16 to undergraduate. These are often for engineering firms. And they are proving very popular – many chose not to go to uni this autumn but took a degree apprenticeship instead. I think this process could be turbocharged with the funding changes outlined above – no loans for arts or humanities degree courses unless you get say AAB at A level. The options at 18 for the less bright would be a STEM degree, am apprenticeship or a job.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

Apprenticeships are necessary and helpful. But certainly not sufficient. I do agree that one of the big changes since I started work in the 1980s is the huge decline in employer investment in training.
STEM is at least as academically demanding as other subjects. One of the toughest courses at Cambridge and absolutely not a soft option.
Marketing it as the choice for the less bright is precisely the wrong way to go.
1) It isn’t
2) You won’t get the people you really need applying
I don’t know why you keep suggesting it. Perhaps you’ve never worked in engineering ?

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

The “less bright” are not going to do STEM, don’t be daft. That’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics- the toughest degrees.

George H
George H
1 year ago

People are speaking at cross purposes here. One can work ‘in engineering’ without being an engineer, in the same way that the teller in your local branch of Barclays works ‘in banking’ but isn’t – by any normal definition of the term – a banker. In languages where it’s more obvious that the etymology of the term for ‘engineer’ puts it in the same semantic family as ‘ingenious’, rather than ‘engine’ (French ‘ingénieur’, Italian ‘ingegnere’, Spanish ‘ingeniero’…), you’ll never hear technicians being referred to as engineers but in English the sloppiness is easier to understand. In England particularly, having a screwdriver in your utility belt seems to be enough to get you called an engineer.

Last edited 1 year ago by George H
George H
George H
1 year ago

People are speaking at cross purposes here. One can work ‘in engineering’ without being an engineer, in the same way that the teller in your local branch of Barclays works ‘in banking’ but isn’t – by any normal definition of the term – a banker. In languages where it’s more obvious that the etymology of the term for ‘engineer’ puts it in the same semantic family as ‘ingenious’, rather than ‘engine’ (French ‘ingénieur’, Italian ‘ingegnere’, Spanish ‘ingeniero’…), you’ll never hear technicians being referred to as engineers but in English the sloppiness is easier to understand. In England particularly, having a screwdriver in your utility belt seems to be enough to get you called an engineer.

Last edited 1 year ago by George H
Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

Apprenticeships are necessary and helpful. But certainly not sufficient. I do agree that one of the big changes since I started work in the 1980s is the huge decline in employer investment in training.
STEM is at least as academically demanding as other subjects. One of the toughest courses at Cambridge and absolutely not a soft option.
Marketing it as the choice for the less bright is precisely the wrong way to go.
1) It isn’t
2) You won’t get the people you really need applying
I don’t know why you keep suggesting it. Perhaps you’ve never worked in engineering ?

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

The “less bright” are not going to do STEM, don’t be daft. That’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics- the toughest degrees.

Andrew Dalton
Andrew Dalton
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

“You do need a stellar mind to be a stellar civil engineer or software developer though.”
No, you really don’t, I’m one.

Matt M
Matt M
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

I am very impressed by the current government Apprenticeship schemes. There are a number of entry points from age 16 to undergraduate. These are often for engineering firms. And they are proving very popular – many chose not to go to uni this autumn but took a degree apprenticeship instead. I think this process could be turbocharged with the funding changes outlined above – no loans for arts or humanities degree courses unless you get say AAB at A level. The options at 18 for the less bright would be a STEM degree, am apprenticeship or a job.

Andrew Dalton
Andrew Dalton
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

“You do need a stellar mind to be a stellar civil engineer or software developer though.”
No, you really don’t, I’m one.

Ethniciodo Rodenydo
Ethniciodo Rodenydo
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

Do you have any idea how much harder and demanding an engineering degree is than than say, sociology, English or history.
The fact is that we do not have too many people bright enough or with the application to do an engineering degree. 40/50 years ago about 5 of school leaves went on to university. We as a nation have not become more intelligent in the intervening years standards have simply been lowered

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

You do need a stellar mind to be a stellar civil engineer or software developer though. And the difference between best and average in these fields is enormous.
So yes, we need more entrants at all levels. But it needs to be a high prestige activity attracting the brightest students in order to draw in more students.
Good luck “forcing” people to do engineering. Not going to work. There are easier options for people who want an easier life. You can’t bluff your way in engineering either – you need to produce stuff and it needs to work. And you get caught out fairly quickly if it doesn’t.

Ethniciodo Rodenydo
Ethniciodo Rodenydo
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

Do you have any idea how much harder and demanding an engineering degree is than than say, sociology, English or history.
The fact is that we do not have too many people bright enough or with the application to do an engineering degree. 40/50 years ago about 5 of school leaves went on to university. We as a nation have not become more intelligent in the intervening years standards have simply been lowered

George H
George H
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

I think the issue here is the meaning of the term ‘engineer’, which in England (although it’s spreading to Ireland too, unfortunately, at least in everyday speech) is used to refer to both engineers and technicians, including technicians operating at a very basic level. (“We’re waiting for the engineer to come to change the printer cartridge”, for example.) I’m assuming that the 7% figure refers to actual engineers.

Janet G
Janet G
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

Oh dear, it’s the engineers in our neck of the wood who are mad keen on cement everywhere, kerbing and guttering all over – does terrible things to lake-edge life. They form a separate department of our local council and seem to have no input from the rest.

Last edited 1 year ago by Janet G
Matt M
Matt M
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

That is also true. Of course you want to encourage the bright ones to choose engineering. And hopefully the rewards will follow keeping them out of the clutches of the quants.

But you don’t need to be a stellar mind to become a civil engineer or a software developer. You just need to be encouraged (forced) to spend a few years studying those courses rather than Peace Studies or whatever

Last edited 1 year ago by Matt M
George H
George H
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

I think the issue here is the meaning of the term ‘engineer’, which in England (although it’s spreading to Ireland too, unfortunately, at least in everyday speech) is used to refer to both engineers and technicians, including technicians operating at a very basic level. (“We’re waiting for the engineer to come to change the printer cartridge”, for example.) I’m assuming that the 7% figure refers to actual engineers.

Janet G
Janet G
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

Oh dear, it’s the engineers in our neck of the wood who are mad keen on cement everywhere, kerbing and guttering all over – does terrible things to lake-edge life. They form a separate department of our local council and seem to have no input from the rest.

Last edited 1 year ago by Janet G
Cathy Carron
Cathy Carron
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

You have to pat us on the back here in the USA though…we’re tops in Gender and Queer Studies, Black Studies, Women Studies, etc….and we’ve gone one better by employing these grads in the 80,000 DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) jobs throughout the country. Who needs more engineering jobs? Always trying to remain ahead : )

Last edited 1 year ago by Cathy Carron
joe hardy
joe hardy
1 year ago
Reply to  Cathy Carron

Ah, but those lucrative DEI jobs do produce ideological purity. Think of them as the gatekeepers to our future. Who will receive grants and funding? Who gets to decide who and what will advance and what will get left behind?

Last edited 1 year ago by joe hardy
Cathy Carron
Cathy Carron
1 year ago
Reply to  joe hardy

Perhaps, but what I’ve seen and heard so far…not so sure about their ‘power’. You can only promote ‘stupid’ for so long and succeed as a business or even a country, a civilization.

Cathy Carron
Cathy Carron
1 year ago
Reply to  joe hardy

Perhaps, but what I’ve seen and heard so far…not so sure about their ‘power’. You can only promote ‘stupid’ for so long and succeed as a business or even a country, a civilization.

joe hardy
joe hardy
1 year ago
Reply to  Cathy Carron

Ah, but those lucrative DEI jobs do produce ideological purity. Think of them as the gatekeepers to our future. Who will receive grants and funding? Who gets to decide who and what will advance and what will get left behind?

Last edited 1 year ago by joe hardy
Mike H
Mike H
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

The issue here is not getting people to do engineering at university, it’s a step earlier – we need more students taking A-level maths, which is a prerequisite for engineering degrees. I worked in a UK engineering department for decades, and the recruitment problem across the discipline was that without more sixth formers taking A-level maths, the available recruitment pool was too small and it’s too late to do anything about it.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

No. We need A grade students doing engineering. And staying in engineering after graduating, rather than going into the City.
If it’s important, you want the very best students doing the subject.

Cathy Carron
Cathy Carron
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

You have to pat us on the back here in the USA though…we’re tops in Gender and Queer Studies, Black Studies, Women Studies, etc….and we’ve gone one better by employing these grads in the 80,000 DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) jobs throughout the country. Who needs more engineering jobs? Always trying to remain ahead : )

Last edited 1 year ago by Cathy Carron
Mike H
Mike H
1 year ago
Reply to  Matt M

The issue here is not getting people to do engineering at university, it’s a step earlier – we need more students taking A-level maths, which is a prerequisite for engineering degrees. I worked in a UK engineering department for decades, and the recruitment problem across the discipline was that without more sixth formers taking A-level maths, the available recruitment pool was too small and it’s too late to do anything about it.

Matt M
Matt M
1 year ago

only 7% of American students focus on engineering, compared to 25% in Russia. “The US fills the gap with foreign students, but they’re mainly Indians and even more Chinese,” he went on, “It is a dilemma of the American economy: it can only face competition from China by importing skilled Chinese labour.” 

This is now a real dilemma for the West. I can’t speak for the US but in the UK we really need to stop taxpayer-backed student loans for non-STEM subjects except for the very brightest students. Unless you are a straight A student, subjects like economics, psychology, English lit or history shouldn’t be undergraduate options. We should be funneling B- and C-grade students into engineering courses (ideally degree apprenticeships). We need lots of technically literate home-grown graduates, we don’t need that many sociologists.

Last edited 1 year ago by Matt M
Emmanuel MARTIN
Emmanuel MARTIN
1 year ago

Emmanuel Todd is one of the very few living world class French intellectuals. And as a froggy, I am quite sad he had to go to Japan to get the status and recognition his talent deserves.
Back to the topic, I think his view on(the Ukraine War) is spot on, and quite frightening.

Last edited 1 year ago by Emmanuel MARTIN
Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago

The writer McDonald-Frasier was discussed on Unherd, and from one of his books on Her Majesty’s Dirtiest Solder (Private MacAuslan) MacAuslin holds a French General at bayonet point with the great words, ‘I see you, you frog eating chancer’ when told to guard a gate, all assuming allied Generals would be allowed to pass by any sane HM Solder but forgetting to tell MacAuslan that……

Yes, the French have a pretty mixed past on politics, especially International Politics, and were pretty much wrong on every last single thing leading up to – and during – WWII, and very mixed on WWI – but they can also hit the nail on the head every so often..,.. And he is correct here.

Last edited 1 year ago by Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago

The writer McDonald-Frasier was discussed on Unherd, and from one of his books on Her Majesty’s Dirtiest Solder (Private MacAuslan) MacAuslin holds a French General at bayonet point with the great words, ‘I see you, you frog eating chancer’ when told to guard a gate, all assuming allied Generals would be allowed to pass by any sane HM Solder but forgetting to tell MacAuslan that……

Yes, the French have a pretty mixed past on politics, especially International Politics, and were pretty much wrong on every last single thing leading up to – and during – WWII, and very mixed on WWI – but they can also hit the nail on the head every so often..,.. And he is correct here.

Last edited 1 year ago by Phillip Arundel
Emmanuel MARTIN
Emmanuel MARTIN
1 year ago

Emmanuel Todd is one of the very few living world class French intellectuals. And as a froggy, I am quite sad he had to go to Japan to get the status and recognition his talent deserves.
Back to the topic, I think his view on(the Ukraine War) is spot on, and quite frightening.

Last edited 1 year ago by Emmanuel MARTIN
Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

Peter Zeihan has an interesting perspective on the future global order. He sees China and Russia in a tremendously weak position going forward, driven largely by demographics. He sees the US and North America in a strong position, based largely on the natural resources and ag production of Canada and the US, and the labour of Mexico.

His perspective can be quite blinkered as well, but it serves as a reasonable counterpoint. In the end, all of it is speculation. Predictions are hard.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

He’s irritating to listen to and rather predictable. But not wrong here.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

I have warned of Zeihan – he is great fun to listen to, very convincing as he talks, you will learn things, but underneath his arguments are spurious projections. I think he is Agenda – ‘Controlled Opposition. The character he reminds me of is the little pig in Animal Farm who address all the animal’s concerns with total propaganda and untruth, wile doing a little of a swishing dance that makes him seem so nice and believable… very much Biden’s Zen Master Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

I agree. He’s very convincing because he’s so confident in his predictions. Kinda like Paul Ehrlich that way. Lots of what he says about China is flat-out wrong, but he does serve as interesting foil to the constant doom and gloom about the west. We are riddled with problems here, but so is Russia and China.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

I agree. He’s very convincing because he’s so confident in his predictions. Kinda like Paul Ehrlich that way. Lots of what he says about China is flat-out wrong, but he does serve as interesting foil to the constant doom and gloom about the west. We are riddled with problems here, but so is Russia and China.

Scott McArthur
Scott McArthur
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

My view is that Zeihan underestimates how much Russia and China can ratchet up their incentives to get more young women into motherhood in the next 30 years. Can they avoid the dip? no. Can they arrest and reverse it? Probably more than we can and that is the rub.

D Walsh
D Walsh
1 year ago
Reply to  Scott McArthur

When Zeihan talks about demographics it seems his only focus is on the age profile
I think he’s a fool or a liar

Janet G
Janet G
1 year ago
Reply to  Scott McArthur

Can Earth afford extra humans?

D Walsh
D Walsh
1 year ago
Reply to  Scott McArthur

When Zeihan talks about demographics it seems his only focus is on the age profile
I think he’s a fool or a liar

Janet G
Janet G
1 year ago
Reply to  Scott McArthur

Can Earth afford extra humans?

Tom Condray
Tom Condray
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

“Predictions are hard.”

Especially about the future.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

He’s irritating to listen to and rather predictable. But not wrong here.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

I have warned of Zeihan – he is great fun to listen to, very convincing as he talks, you will learn things, but underneath his arguments are spurious projections. I think he is Agenda – ‘Controlled Opposition. The character he reminds me of is the little pig in Animal Farm who address all the animal’s concerns with total propaganda and untruth, wile doing a little of a swishing dance that makes him seem so nice and believable… very much Biden’s Zen Master Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.

Scott McArthur
Scott McArthur
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

My view is that Zeihan underestimates how much Russia and China can ratchet up their incentives to get more young women into motherhood in the next 30 years. Can they avoid the dip? no. Can they arrest and reverse it? Probably more than we can and that is the rub.

Tom Condray
Tom Condray
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

“Predictions are hard.”

Especially about the future.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago

Peter Zeihan has an interesting perspective on the future global order. He sees China and Russia in a tremendously weak position going forward, driven largely by demographics. He sees the US and North America in a strong position, based largely on the natural resources and ag production of Canada and the US, and the labour of Mexico.

His perspective can be quite blinkered as well, but it serves as a reasonable counterpoint. In the end, all of it is speculation. Predictions are hard.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

Spare us these useless left-wing French intellectuals. Have they ever done anything productive or useful ? Or even been right about anything ?
So this guy wrote a book 20 years ago claiming it’s all over for the USA. Wrong then. Still wrong now.
Ignorant too. The Chinese, Indian and other engineers who come to the US to work tend to stay. The US gets the best engineers from the global talent pool this way. Russia gets none – which engineer would possibly want to emigrate to Russia given all the other choices available. And what talented Russian engineer would wish to stay ? Their increasing technical isolation (withdrawal of all the Western technology companies, sanctions) plus the threat of conscription will just accelerate the talent exodus from Russia. They’re “voting with their feet” as a famous Russian once said (before locking the country down after gaining power so they couldn’t any more).
It’s not over for the USA. It’s certainly looking like it is for Russia though.
How do people like Todd and Polly Toynbee survive for decades drawing generour salaries when they never get anything right ?

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

Actually many go back – and it’s not guaranteed that they will always stay. Relying on this isn’t a viable long term strategy.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

Believe me, the US has the best chip design teams in the world as a result of this policy. This only requires that they stay in the US for the most productive years of their working lives.
Many of these immigrant engineers are now also running US tech companies.
Other countries would queue up to have the “problems” the US is having recruiting top technical talent.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

Believe me, the US has the best chip design teams in the world as a result of this policy. This only requires that they stay in the US for the most productive years of their working lives.
Many of these immigrant engineers are now also running US tech companies.
Other countries would queue up to have the “problems” the US is having recruiting top technical talent.

0 0
0 0
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

Todd supported Brexit, and argued back in 2016 that Boris Johnson had made himself the leader of “popular opposition” and would transform the Conservative Party’s electoral fortunes. Was he wrong about these things as well?

antoni monti
antoni monti
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

No dude…
The US is DONE… they are just living on borrowed time with the help of more money printing… having more advanced computer chips isn’t going to may difference for the reversal of US declining power and influence in the world… they got humiliated by the less technically advanced Taleban in Afghanistan not too long ago… Contrary to wishful thinking technical advances in the US have never made any difference as to weather the US is a better country today than yesterday… Americans use technology to stall progress in other areas that would make the world a better place today… more technology for the US is not better than less technology… it’s just a a false religion…. the American media made every effort to make America forget about it’s previous humiliation in Afghanistan… now they want you to believe that “Ukraine is winning” PR… from day one of this war…in that case Ukraine wouldn’t need weekly billion dollar package deals of weapons, and cash while the US has no bay formula … homless encampments everywhere, expensive heath care, mass shootings almost every week… the very reasons you consider the US to be a ‘success’are the very reasons it’s really a total failure…30 yrs ago many people wrote books and articles about the so called ‘demise’ of the US…but that actually happened a long time ago… what we’re really witnessing is the phase where Americans in general, are going to be forced to recognize they are no longer the so called world power that they used to be….the only thing keeping the US from believing it’s not over us their ability to print and manipulate financial structures in a good part of the world…in a large part of Euro Asia the world is saying goodbye to that system…no thanks to more dollar based trade…the dollar itself won’t just totally disappear overnight… but it will no longer be the only option… actually, in Asia the dollar break-up is happening right now….the trend of people studying in the US and staying there.. has been on a decline for fotat least half a decade … they still have a few select good schools… but it’s increasingly better to go to Europe, or China for advanced technical education if you are obsessed with the idea of who’s computer chips are better…

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

Actually many go back – and it’s not guaranteed that they will always stay. Relying on this isn’t a viable long term strategy.

0 0
0 0
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

Todd supported Brexit, and argued back in 2016 that Boris Johnson had made himself the leader of “popular opposition” and would transform the Conservative Party’s electoral fortunes. Was he wrong about these things as well?

antoni monti
antoni monti
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

No dude…
The US is DONE… they are just living on borrowed time with the help of more money printing… having more advanced computer chips isn’t going to may difference for the reversal of US declining power and influence in the world… they got humiliated by the less technically advanced Taleban in Afghanistan not too long ago… Contrary to wishful thinking technical advances in the US have never made any difference as to weather the US is a better country today than yesterday… Americans use technology to stall progress in other areas that would make the world a better place today… more technology for the US is not better than less technology… it’s just a a false religion…. the American media made every effort to make America forget about it’s previous humiliation in Afghanistan… now they want you to believe that “Ukraine is winning” PR… from day one of this war…in that case Ukraine wouldn’t need weekly billion dollar package deals of weapons, and cash while the US has no bay formula … homless encampments everywhere, expensive heath care, mass shootings almost every week… the very reasons you consider the US to be a ‘success’are the very reasons it’s really a total failure…30 yrs ago many people wrote books and articles about the so called ‘demise’ of the US…but that actually happened a long time ago… what we’re really witnessing is the phase where Americans in general, are going to be forced to recognize they are no longer the so called world power that they used to be….the only thing keeping the US from believing it’s not over us their ability to print and manipulate financial structures in a good part of the world…in a large part of Euro Asia the world is saying goodbye to that system…no thanks to more dollar based trade…the dollar itself won’t just totally disappear overnight… but it will no longer be the only option… actually, in Asia the dollar break-up is happening right now….the trend of people studying in the US and staying there.. has been on a decline for fotat least half a decade … they still have a few select good schools… but it’s increasingly better to go to Europe, or China for advanced technical education if you are obsessed with the idea of who’s computer chips are better…

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

Spare us these useless left-wing French intellectuals. Have they ever done anything productive or useful ? Or even been right about anything ?
So this guy wrote a book 20 years ago claiming it’s all over for the USA. Wrong then. Still wrong now.
Ignorant too. The Chinese, Indian and other engineers who come to the US to work tend to stay. The US gets the best engineers from the global talent pool this way. Russia gets none – which engineer would possibly want to emigrate to Russia given all the other choices available. And what talented Russian engineer would wish to stay ? Their increasing technical isolation (withdrawal of all the Western technology companies, sanctions) plus the threat of conscription will just accelerate the talent exodus from Russia. They’re “voting with their feet” as a famous Russian once said (before locking the country down after gaining power so they couldn’t any more).
It’s not over for the USA. It’s certainly looking like it is for Russia though.
How do people like Todd and Polly Toynbee survive for decades drawing generour salaries when they never get anything right ?

Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle
1 year ago

A western intellectual predicting the end of the West, how passe…

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Doyle

Much like Churchill in ‘The Wilderness Years’, 1929s and 30s, wile he watched Germany falling into chaos under the insanely punitive Versailles Treaty, and then Hit Ler building his forces for the inevitable WWII that ALL Governments in France and Britain (and USA) Refused to see and act wile it would have been so easy – on till the ‘Gathering Storm’ he endlessly predicted broke on the world with the invasion into Poland, and WWII.

I come here and rant on the HUGE self harm the West is doing to its self and the entire world with its Proxy way against Russia (aside from totally destroying Ukraine in the process), a self harm so huge it is existential, but the neo-Con sheep here all just say more and more doubling down of this insanity is needed. More killing, more weapons, more sanctions……

Yes – this very much could be the breaking of the West – our system will not recover as it once was – EU may become second world. USA will be OK as it always is after World Wars, as an entire continent with the resources of Canada and the industrial might of Mexico – but Europe – you may have destroyed yourself in the Pointless WWIII you allowed Biden to create. His mini-me Boris has destroyed UK, and now Boris’s Mini-me Sunak has taken up the reins of self destruction to plow the same furrow…..

Gordon Arta
Gordon Arta
1 year ago

The Versailles treaty wasn’t nearly as ‘insanely punitive’ as the one Germany inflicted on Russia only months earlier. That treaty, Brest-Litovsk, took away a million square miles, 55 million people, and most of Russia’s industry, being described by Lenin as “that abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement and humiliation.”

Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle
1 year ago

Biden didn’t start this war, Putin did. Seeing Russia defang itself is good; and Ukraine may well come out of this conflict with a much stronger sense of itself as a nation.

Stephanie Surface
Stephanie Surface
1 year ago

The West is destroying itself by spending Trillions in the belief that CO2, released by fossil fuel, is destroying the planet. Net Zero is the biggest con Western civilisation came up to deindustrialise and destroy itself. Most of the rest of the World will continue their industrialisation and prosper. The boycott of Russian gas and oil is mostly Europe’s self destruction as it marches from one energy crisis to the next. Russia eventually will get some kind of peace treaty ( don’t think DeSantis or any other GOP president will be particularly interested in prolonging the war) and probably gain some regions in the Ukrainian East. There it will gain even more natural resources, which it will be able to sell to the highest bidder.
Hopefully the US under a new government will come to her senses and recognise that Net Zero is a total pie in the sky.

Last edited 1 year ago by Stephanie Surface
Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

So the USA, France and Britain were wrong not to act sooner against Adolf, but are also wrong now to act against Putin. How very confusing!

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

That only works if putin is a reincarnation of hitler. Not every dictator is hitler.

Tim Lim
Tim Lim
1 year ago
Reply to  Kat L

nor Napoleon for that matter.

Tim Lim
Tim Lim
1 year ago
Reply to  Kat L

nor Napoleon for that matter.

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

That only works if putin is a reincarnation of hitler. Not every dictator is hitler.

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago

From my perspective, and I’m mid age, society here in the USA is in decline. Flight issues, supply issues, customer service, crime, woke as a religion, open southern border which will exacerbate demographic replacement; all indications that we are headed for a lot of unpleasantness.

Gordon Arta
Gordon Arta
1 year ago

The Versailles treaty wasn’t nearly as ‘insanely punitive’ as the one Germany inflicted on Russia only months earlier. That treaty, Brest-Litovsk, took away a million square miles, 55 million people, and most of Russia’s industry, being described by Lenin as “that abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement and humiliation.”

Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle
1 year ago

Biden didn’t start this war, Putin did. Seeing Russia defang itself is good; and Ukraine may well come out of this conflict with a much stronger sense of itself as a nation.

Stephanie Surface
Stephanie Surface
1 year ago

The West is destroying itself by spending Trillions in the belief that CO2, released by fossil fuel, is destroying the planet. Net Zero is the biggest con Western civilisation came up to deindustrialise and destroy itself. Most of the rest of the World will continue their industrialisation and prosper. The boycott of Russian gas and oil is mostly Europe’s self destruction as it marches from one energy crisis to the next. Russia eventually will get some kind of peace treaty ( don’t think DeSantis or any other GOP president will be particularly interested in prolonging the war) and probably gain some regions in the Ukrainian East. There it will gain even more natural resources, which it will be able to sell to the highest bidder.
Hopefully the US under a new government will come to her senses and recognise that Net Zero is a total pie in the sky.

Last edited 1 year ago by Stephanie Surface
Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

So the USA, France and Britain were wrong not to act sooner against Adolf, but are also wrong now to act against Putin. How very confusing!

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago

From my perspective, and I’m mid age, society here in the USA is in decline. Flight issues, supply issues, customer service, crime, woke as a religion, open southern border which will exacerbate demographic replacement; all indications that we are headed for a lot of unpleasantness.

Steve Murray
Steve Murray
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Doyle

Rather, a French intellectual. They’re two a penny, with scarcely a brain between them all.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Doyle

Much like Churchill in ‘The Wilderness Years’, 1929s and 30s, wile he watched Germany falling into chaos under the insanely punitive Versailles Treaty, and then Hit Ler building his forces for the inevitable WWII that ALL Governments in France and Britain (and USA) Refused to see and act wile it would have been so easy – on till the ‘Gathering Storm’ he endlessly predicted broke on the world with the invasion into Poland, and WWII.

I come here and rant on the HUGE self harm the West is doing to its self and the entire world with its Proxy way against Russia (aside from totally destroying Ukraine in the process), a self harm so huge it is existential, but the neo-Con sheep here all just say more and more doubling down of this insanity is needed. More killing, more weapons, more sanctions……

Yes – this very much could be the breaking of the West – our system will not recover as it once was – EU may become second world. USA will be OK as it always is after World Wars, as an entire continent with the resources of Canada and the industrial might of Mexico – but Europe – you may have destroyed yourself in the Pointless WWIII you allowed Biden to create. His mini-me Boris has destroyed UK, and now Boris’s Mini-me Sunak has taken up the reins of self destruction to plow the same furrow…..

Steve Murray
Steve Murray
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Doyle

Rather, a French intellectual. They’re two a penny, with scarcely a brain between them all.

Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle
1 year ago

A western intellectual predicting the end of the West, how passe…

Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

A French intellectual criticising the US, who would have thunk it! I’d have been more impressed if you’d managed to find a French intellectual who had a positive view of the west to be honest.
So there’s no mention from him about the sanctions hurting Russias ability to import parts for sophisticated weapons, gas prices dropping from their record highs, the hundreds of thousands of young Russian graduates that fled at the first mobilisation, Chinas demographic ageing time bomb, its property bubble that looks likely burst in the near future or its struggles to get their hands on semi conductors due to American restrictions?
Despite the problems facing western nations, I don’t see many people risking their lives to make perilous journeys to try and get into Russia or China, and I’d wager the western nations between them are capable of funding the Ukrainians longer than the Kremlin and Russian economy can fund the Russian war effort, not to mention the US equipment in particular seems light years ahead of that available to the Russians.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Billy Bob

Billy, I know we have always been 99% at odds in beliefs on the world, and philosophy, but if you have an hour try watching this video from Del Bigtree, who is a Legit Newsman, but Right leaning, and into conspiracies (which some of us call truth) I posted it last night – Jordan Peterson has one with this guest too – Yan, who is an ex-Green Barrett – a global traveling war correspondent who has his main interest in Famine, Pandemic, and War, which he says are always joined. It is an hour well spent, even if you disregard what he says – he really does go to the most dangerous places on Earth, and has for decades – speaks many languages, and writes books in Japanese, and reads endlessly – give it a watch to get the ‘AntiAgenda’. He says time to worry about the total collapse in the world.

https://rumble.com/v24rl6w-on-the-frontlines-global-famine-is-coming.html

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago

Does he offer any solutions for us rubes?

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago

Does he offer any solutions for us rubes?

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Billy Bob

The Chinese haven’t really suffered from the restrictions yet. The demographic ageing time bomb is as true, or more true, in the west. The US needs immigrants to maintain its population, as does Europe. Russia has actually survived the sanctions and the equipment the Russians have been using is old Soviet issue equipment so far. Their missile defense is considered top notch.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Billy Bob

Billy, I know we have always been 99% at odds in beliefs on the world, and philosophy, but if you have an hour try watching this video from Del Bigtree, who is a Legit Newsman, but Right leaning, and into conspiracies (which some of us call truth) I posted it last night – Jordan Peterson has one with this guest too – Yan, who is an ex-Green Barrett – a global traveling war correspondent who has his main interest in Famine, Pandemic, and War, which he says are always joined. It is an hour well spent, even if you disregard what he says – he really does go to the most dangerous places on Earth, and has for decades – speaks many languages, and writes books in Japanese, and reads endlessly – give it a watch to get the ‘AntiAgenda’. He says time to worry about the total collapse in the world.

https://rumble.com/v24rl6w-on-the-frontlines-global-famine-is-coming.html

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Billy Bob

The Chinese haven’t really suffered from the restrictions yet. The demographic ageing time bomb is as true, or more true, in the west. The US needs immigrants to maintain its population, as does Europe. Russia has actually survived the sanctions and the equipment the Russians have been using is old Soviet issue equipment so far. Their missile defense is considered top notch.

Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

A French intellectual criticising the US, who would have thunk it! I’d have been more impressed if you’d managed to find a French intellectual who had a positive view of the west to be honest.
So there’s no mention from him about the sanctions hurting Russias ability to import parts for sophisticated weapons, gas prices dropping from their record highs, the hundreds of thousands of young Russian graduates that fled at the first mobilisation, Chinas demographic ageing time bomb, its property bubble that looks likely burst in the near future or its struggles to get their hands on semi conductors due to American restrictions?
Despite the problems facing western nations, I don’t see many people risking their lives to make perilous journeys to try and get into Russia or China, and I’d wager the western nations between them are capable of funding the Ukrainians longer than the Kremlin and Russian economy can fund the Russian war effort, not to mention the US equipment in particular seems light years ahead of that available to the Russians.

Dermot O'Sullivan
Dermot O'Sullivan
1 year ago

Time to get back to the Freedom Fries!

From what we’re reading, it doesn’t look as if Russian engineering is getting an advantage from those 25% of students. In my opinion there is too much guff about the big powers and not enough focus on the real difference in this conflict: Ukraine itself. They are really fighting for their lives; the Russian existentialism is imperial folly.

Last edited 1 year ago by Dermot O'Sullivan
Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago

They are fighting for their lives so effectively 8 Million are refugees and 200,000 dead, and lots more death coming – as Biden is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian standing…….

Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

If the Ukrainians didn’t want to fight they could surrender tomorrow, but they don’t. To them they still prefer to push back against the Russians and deem the deaths to be a smaller price to pay than Russian subjugation. Why do you always ignore the free will of those Ukrainians?

Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

If the Ukrainians didn’t want to fight they could surrender tomorrow, but they don’t. To them they still prefer to push back against the Russians and deem the deaths to be a smaller price to pay than Russian subjugation. Why do you always ignore the free will of those Ukrainians?

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago

They are fighting for their lives so effectively 8 Million are refugees and 200,000 dead, and lots more death coming – as Biden is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian standing…….

Dermot O'Sullivan
Dermot O'Sullivan
1 year ago

Time to get back to the Freedom Fries!

From what we’re reading, it doesn’t look as if Russian engineering is getting an advantage from those 25% of students. In my opinion there is too much guff about the big powers and not enough focus on the real difference in this conflict: Ukraine itself. They are really fighting for their lives; the Russian existentialism is imperial folly.

Last edited 1 year ago by Dermot O'Sullivan
DenialARiverIn Islington
DenialARiverIn Islington
1 year ago

Nah.

DenialARiverIn Islington
DenialARiverIn Islington
1 year ago

Nah.

Dog Eared
Dog Eared
1 year ago

“This is why we are now in an endless war, in a confrontation whose outcome must be the collapse of one or the other.” The additional prospect of China waging a cold war against the West

All very dramatic, but unrealistic. It would mean economic suicide for China to ‘wage a cold war against the west’.
Equally, another possibility is that Putin dies, which would bring about an end to the conflict.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago
Reply to  Dog Eared

If Putin dies, why would the conflict end? Maybe it will. Maybe some nuttier guy takes his place.

I agree though, while the article offers and interesting and thoughtful perspective, it does seem a bit dramatic and undervalues some real domestic issues facing countries like China and Russia.

Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

I might be wrong, but I’m very much under the impression that the majority of the Russian people aren’t behind Putin’s war against Ukraine.

Emmanuel MARTIN
Emmanuel MARTIN
1 year ago
Reply to  Julian Farrows

Yes, you are indeed wrong. The Ukraine war is seen by Russian sources as NATO trying to smother Russia and pillage it.
Did you get paid for that comment ?

Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

… because that is what they are told with no dissenting voices allowed! NATO is a defensive alliance, defending against Russian imperialism! Russia is being pillaged by its own oligarchs, not by NATO.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

NATO defended them selves very well in Kosovo, and Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Libya, and…..

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

HaHa – I posted on how Na to defended themselves in half a dozen wars lately – and the comment got sent to moderation – that tarpit almost none manage to be dragged from….the Mod-swamp as it were.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval………………

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

It’s a defensive alliance that has no reason to exist

Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

Current events prove the very opposite!

Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

Current events prove the very opposite!

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

NATO defended them selves very well in Kosovo, and Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Libya, and…..

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

HaHa – I posted on how Na to defended themselves in half a dozen wars lately – and the comment got sent to moderation – that tarpit almost none manage to be dragged from….the Mod-swamp as it were.

Phillip Arundel
Phillip Arundel
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval, Awaiting for approval………………

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

It’s a defensive alliance that has no reason to exist

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

How do you actually know this ? I suggest you are both speculating. Remember Adlai Setvenson’s quote that “a free country is one in which it is safe to be unpopular”. So opinions expressed in Russia are unlikely to be very reliable.

Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

I suppose we’ll simply gloss over the large protests that were violently suppressed, and the mass emigration of fighting age men from Russia then?

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Billy Bob

Probably in the same social class as ours that didn’t want to go to Vietnam. A similar situation would be worse today; they aren’t hitting their recruiting goals as it is. What you aren’t hearing is the same thing is happening in Ukraine.

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Billy Bob

Probably in the same social class as ours that didn’t want to go to Vietnam. A similar situation would be worse today; they aren’t hitting their recruiting goals as it is. What you aren’t hearing is the same thing is happening in Ukraine.

Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
1 year ago

No, but I have worked with Western European human resource departments that are inundated by Russians looking for work visas to get out of the country.
Besides, why on earth would I get paid to suggest that Putin’s war may be unpopular with his own people?

Last edited 1 year ago by Julian Farrows
Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

… because that is what they are told with no dissenting voices allowed! NATO is a defensive alliance, defending against Russian imperialism! Russia is being pillaged by its own oligarchs, not by NATO.

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

How do you actually know this ? I suggest you are both speculating. Remember Adlai Setvenson’s quote that “a free country is one in which it is safe to be unpopular”. So opinions expressed in Russia are unlikely to be very reliable.

Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

I suppose we’ll simply gloss over the large protests that were violently suppressed, and the mass emigration of fighting age men from Russia then?

Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
1 year ago

No, but I have worked with Western European human resource departments that are inundated by Russians looking for work visas to get out of the country.
Besides, why on earth would I get paid to suggest that Putin’s war may be unpopular with his own people?

Last edited 1 year ago by Julian Farrows
Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago
Reply to  Julian Farrows

I was also under the impression that the war didn’t have widespread support amongst the Russian people, with the early protests and the mass emigration following conscription.

It doesn’t really matter IMO, because the Russian people will likely have no input into the selection of the next leader.

Last edited 1 year ago by Jim Veenbaas
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

Putin is popular in Russia, he wins elections, and he has support for the war.

Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

… and he has total control of information and total control of so-called elections as well!

Jeanie K
Jeanie K
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

A bit like the US Democrat party then?

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Jeanie K

Oh snap!

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Jeanie K

Oh snap!

Jeanie K
Jeanie K
1 year ago
Reply to  Tony Price

A bit like the US Democrat party then?

Tony Price
Tony Price
1 year ago

… and he has total control of information and total control of so-called elections as well!

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

Putin is popular in Russia, he wins elections, and he has support for the war.

Emmanuel MARTIN
Emmanuel MARTIN
1 year ago
Reply to  Julian Farrows

Yes, you are indeed wrong. The Ukraine war is seen by Russian sources as NATO trying to smother Russia and pillage it.
Did you get paid for that comment ?

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago
Reply to  Julian Farrows

I was also under the impression that the war didn’t have widespread support amongst the Russian people, with the early protests and the mass emigration following conscription.

It doesn’t really matter IMO, because the Russian people will likely have no input into the selection of the next leader.

Last edited 1 year ago by Jim Veenbaas
Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

I might be wrong, but I’m very much under the impression that the majority of the Russian people aren’t behind Putin’s war against Ukraine.

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Dog Eared

Chinais economically as big as the US and set to be 2-4 times as big, demographics notwithstanding. There’s an economic Cold War coming anyway, and the west might lose out.

Last edited 1 year ago by Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

Chinas economy is no longer predicted to overtake the US. With its ageing demographic, looking property bubble and the west belatedly trying to move manufacturing away from China, it’s more likely to be overtaken by India than catch America

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

But you can’t ignore the demographics here ! The US population will continue to steadily increase and the Chinese to rapidly decrease.

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

It’s not homegrown and the majority of immigrants care nothing for our history of culture.

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter B

It’s not homegrown and the majority of immigrants care nothing for our history of culture.

Tim Lim
Tim Lim
1 year ago

I find it bizarre that someone else, the moderator, would edit your comment. In any case, there is no Cold War developing between China and the US. Certainly not in the cloak-and-dagger fashion seen during the Soviet Union days. However, what has happened is that the US launched an economic war on China once it saw China as a peer competitor. That war I believe, started under Trump.

Billy Bob
Billy Bob
1 year ago

Chinas economy is no longer predicted to overtake the US. With its ageing demographic, looking property bubble and the west belatedly trying to move manufacturing away from China, it’s more likely to be overtaken by India than catch America

Peter B
Peter B
1 year ago

But you can’t ignore the demographics here ! The US population will continue to steadily increase and the Chinese to rapidly decrease.

Tim Lim
Tim Lim
1 year ago

I find it bizarre that someone else, the moderator, would edit your comment. In any case, there is no Cold War developing between China and the US. Certainly not in the cloak-and-dagger fashion seen during the Soviet Union days. However, what has happened is that the US launched an economic war on China once it saw China as a peer competitor. That war I believe, started under Trump.

Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Dog Eared

I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Douglas MacGregor says that there are hardliners waiting in the wings and they believe Putin has been too soft in his approach. It may just get worse. These things never go as anticipated…Libya anyone?

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
1 year ago
Reply to  Dog Eared

If Putin dies, why would the conflict end? Maybe it will. Maybe some nuttier guy takes his place.

I agree though, while the article offers and interesting and thoughtful perspective, it does seem a bit dramatic and undervalues some real domestic issues facing countries like China and Russia.

Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
1 year ago
Reply to  Dog Eared

Chinais economically as big as the US and set to be 2-4 times as big, demographics notwithstanding. There’s an economic Cold War coming anyway, and the west might lose out.

Last edited 1 year ago by Mr Sketerzen Bhoto
Kat L
Kat L
1 year ago
Reply to  Dog Eared

I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Douglas MacGregor says that there are hardliners waiting in the wings and they believe Putin has been too soft in his approach. It may just get worse. These things never go as anticipated…Libya anyone?

Dog Eared
Dog Eared
1 year ago

“This is why we are now in an endless war, in a confrontation whose outcome must be the collapse of one or the other.” The additional prospect of China waging a cold war against the West

All very dramatic, but unrealistic. It would mean economic suicide for China to ‘wage a cold war against the west’.
Equally, another possibility is that Putin dies, which would bring about an end to the conflict.

martin logan
martin logan
1 year ago

The last of a long line of French intellectuals predicting the triumph of Russia/the USSR.
Indeed, precisely the same old argument:
“By allying with China and the 3rd World, “Moscou” is certain to triumph.”
Simply warmed over Marxism/Leninism.
But I guess if they were wrong for 70 years, they must be right now.

martin logan
martin logan
1 year ago

The last of a long line of French intellectuals predicting the triumph of Russia/the USSR.
Indeed, precisely the same old argument:
“By allying with China and the 3rd World, “Moscou” is certain to triumph.”
Simply warmed over Marxism/Leninism.
But I guess if they were wrong for 70 years, they must be right now.