Globalization - Another tip of the iceberg
China Puts Man Into Space (via Instapundit).

Now, I don't believe any Communist government will ever succeed over the long term, and China has lots of problems, not the least of which is circa-1964 Brezhnev-style government corruption. But what if the Chinese someday decide that the Mandate of Heaven demands some form of representative democracy?

What if India during this same time got its own problems with corruption under control, deep-sixed the caste system, reduced poverty, and starting educating most or all of its people?

And what if we decided to avoid dealing with the corruption of our own political system, stifle innovation, pursue economic policies that result in economic inequality, and spend our money maintaining the legions at the edges of the empire?