After decades of a scolding countries for irresponsible behavior, Uncle Sam has finally had his comeuppance, John Gray opines in the Guardian, concluding that “The era of American global leadership is over." Unable to silence Hugo Chavez, thwart Russian aggression in Georgia, appreciate Chinese fiscal practices, and halt its own shoddy fiscal policy, America’s fate is now being sealed.
“The Iraq war and the credit bubble have fatally undermined America’s economic primacy,” Gray writes. “How symbolic yesterday that Chinese astronauts take a spacewalk while the US Treasury secretary is on his knees.” The countries that once succumbed to US pressure will soon be ruling the roost, argues Gray: “The control of events is no longer in American hands.”
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