Some thoughts on America beyond the election
Here’s an article a friend recommended to me. It’s nice to be reading about something other than the election:
“It is 2016, and the Hillary Clinton or John McCain or Barack Obama administration is nearing the end of its second term. America has pulled out of Iraq but has about 20,000 troops in the independent state of Kurdistan, as well as warships anchored at Bahrain and an Air Force presence in Qatar. Afghanistan is stable; Iran is nuclear. China has absorbed Taiwan and is steadily increasing its naval presence around the Pacific Rim and, from the Pakistani port of Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea. The European Union has expanded to well over 30 members and has secure oil and gas flows from North Africa, Russia and the Caspian Sea, as well as substantial nuclear energy. America’s standing in the world remains in steady decline.”
Parag Khanna is the author of “The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order.” His adapted essay, “Waving Goodbye to Hedemony, ” about the emerging Second World and its effects on the United States, European Union, and Chinese power blocs can be read in its entirety at the New York Times online.