• SaniFlush [any, any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Belt & Road is going to have some interesting effects in about 4-5 years when it really starts taking off.

    • UncleJoe [comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      With the way things have been going the past few years I'm legit terrified wtf is gonna happen in the near future, especially with China rising and US crumbling so fast

      Things are gonna get fucked

      • SaniFlush [any, any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Why, 'cause only America should get to stomp on the rest of the planet for fun?

        • UncleJoe [comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Oh, Americans shitting the bed and losing global hegemon is a great thing. But I'm not sure they think the same, and I consider them fully capable of taking the world down with them out of spite.

          • SaniFlush [any, any]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Those of us born in the sweaty butt-print of Babylon itself have some people to save, then.

          • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
            ·
            edit-2
            3 years ago

            I don't know. Maybe 20 years ago, under an embattled and desperate neoconservative government. But the current US political system seems to be focused more and more inward. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another Bleeding Kansas or Business Plot play out in my lifetime.

            But until then, the US can lash out abroad in the moment. But Iraq/Afghanistan illustrated the extent of its staying power. I don't think we could launch Afghanistan War in 2022, purely due to the degradation of manpower. The labor shortage problem isn't confined to the private sector.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Its already having a huge impact on Asiatic geo-politics. From Korea to Turkey and Germany to Cuba, national leaders are being forced to recalculate post-Cold War attitudes wrt trade, travel, and political relationships.

      Nicaragua, a country that was never particularly shy about thumbing America in the eye, finally changed its position on Taiwan from "Isn't China" to "Is China". Israel put Americans and Canadians on the no-fly list this weekend - along with half of Europe - while keeping an open door to the Chinese. The Sino-Soviet split looks like it may heal over in our lifetimes thanks to pressure Americans are placing on Russia and China to collaborate defensively.

      B&R has the potential to create an economic boom all the way around the Indian Ocean's coastline. But long before that occurs, we're going to see the US imperial reach significantly eroded. Just look at what's happening in Ethiopia and Libya, as American proxies collapse under the economic pressures of climate change.