GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
On 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall was pulled down and this event prompted US Historian, Francis Fukuyama, to refer to the triumph of Western democracy and Free-Market Capitalism. He concluded that History Had Ended. He Was Wrong.
And the error of his earlier conclusion has been acknowledged by Fukuyama who has written recently of the 9/11 New York Terrorist Attacks, the Invasion of Iraq, the US Housing Market Collapse of 2007 + subsequent global financial crisis and now Afghanistan.
In the Economist, Fukuyama has referred to “the horrifying images of desperate Afghans trying to get out of Kabul this week after the US-backed Government Collapse has evoked a major juncture in world history, as America turned away from the World”.
As the South China Morning Post observes “It is the end of the unipolar moment for the US to be the sole hegemonic power. Over time, for the rest of this Century, it will become just one of several great powers as others gain ground”.
The decline of the US is an important historical phenomenon but it should have been foreseen. History since Alexander the Great, Charlemagne and Attila the Hun has been about the rise and fall of Powerful Nations. Today is no different. We may be in the Present but History Is Being Made. China is growing, India will grow as will Brazil and the Continent of Africa. Change is permanent, not temporary.
Much of the present focus is on China – and for good reason. Its turnaround since 1980 – Tiananmin of 1989 notwithstanding – will be viewed as one of the most remarkable political developments in history. But stand back from China and glimpse the future and the dynamic of development going forward. This is China’s Century – not China Hegemony or Chinese Imperialism but China’s Example. Others will follow. The World is Changing.
