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A big war is possible in the world because of the collapse of American domination, columnist Neil Ferguson said in his article for The Economist magazine. He noted that the United States follows the path of Britain, and now they are similar to it. Analogies are drawn between the current United States and the British Empire after the First World War.
The US national debt is comparable in size to the British one, which was between the two World Wars. Another similar detail is that the United States, like Britain, is pursuing a policy of appeasement. “The idea that today’s America is facing similar threats — not only from China, but also from Russia, Iran and North Korea — may seem fantastic,” Ferguson stressed.
The United States faces the problem of a decline in economic production. China is catching up with the United States, and it is a much more economically developed power than the USSR a hundred years ago. In addition, Americans have fallen out of love with the empire – this applies both to the right, who dream of the era after the liberation of the United States from the rule of the British, and to the left. The United States does not have colonies like Britain, but American troops are stationed and have bases in 150 countries around the world.
The author does not rule out a global war between the United States and China over Taiwan. In Washington, they can behave like Britain did in its time in Suez. “If the American deterrence fails and China dares to strike suddenly, America will face a grim choice: accept a protracted and difficult war (like Britain in 1914 and 1939) or give in, as it was in Suez in 1956,” Ferguson noted.