AMERICANS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN BREAKING THE IRON CURTAIN AND STOPPING THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM. HOWEVER THEY NOW FACE A FORMIDABLE FOE IN THE FORM OF CHINA.
The Cold War established USA as the de-facto superpower of the world. It built its own nexus of allies, starting controlling global organisations (like WTO), established the dollar hegemony and became a financial powerhouse without any stiff opposition.However as you might be aware, it now faces a ruthless enemy and a more dynamic foe in the form of China..
MY REASONS ON WHY CHINA IS STRONGER THAN USSR:
1.FLEXIBLE IDEOLOGY.
The main reason of the cold war was the ideological differences between USA & USSR. However, the Chinese have no fixed ideology despite communist roots. Their only ambitions are global domination and trade nucleus. This feature makes China a more acceptable in comparison ally to nations even to the west states like the Netherlands.
2. TRADING POWERHOUSE.
China is known as the world's factory. Infact its rapid economic rise is due to its export oriented policy.Therefore its obvious that China has strong trade links with the rest of the world. In contrast, the soviets did have a strong industry but their trade was very moderate.
CHINA VS USSR; PER CAPITA GDP
CHINA: MAJOR SUPPLIER OF GOODS USURPING USA
3. TECHNOLOGICAL PROWESS
China has taken steps to be a leader in cutting edge technology. Xi has led stress on emerging fields like biotechnology, artificial intelligence, 5G, automation and robotics. This shows how much long term vision China possess. The Soviets gave USA a run for their money in the space race but it was a battle of prestige rather than any actual long term view. China has developed its own GPS version called Beidou which is even better than GPS itself! It has better resolution, artificial intelligence as well as global reach.
BEIDOU GLOBAL REACH (dark blue dots)
4. MILITARY MUSCLE
A common pillar for global image is a formidable military. USSR had a strong army with a centralized command. i.e the Kremlin. The Chinese Army too has expanded and upgraded rapidly in recent years. To put China's might in perspective, it has BUILT more navy vessels between 2014 & 2019 than the COMBINED navy fleet of India, Portugal, Britain and Netherlands!
WITH SOARING AMBITIONS, CHINA INCREASED ITS MILITARY EXPENDITURE
MY CONCLUSION:
China is a superior enemy than USSR on all counts like diplomacy, trade, technology and economy except military where they can be said to be on equal footing.
If Washington wants to curb China's rise, then it should ditch the 'America First' nationalist agenda and focus on working together with allies like France, UK, Japan & India.
Instead of direct conflict, USA can make use of economic sanctions (effective against Iran) and cripple Chinese economy as USA is a major importer of Chinese goods
The recent coronavirus pandemic has negated China's global image arousing feelings of distrust amongst African and Asian nations, China's major partners.
USA has to take steps to stop China's digital theft from within its borders to nullify its digital growth potential.
THATS ALL. THANK YOU FOR READING. SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS ARE WELCOME.