Commentary
For decades, western leaders comforted themselves with the belief that China’s economic rise would eventually produce political moderation. Trade, globalization, investment, and integration into international institutions were all supposed to transform China into a more cooperative and responsible actor within the existing international order. That assumption now appears profoundly mistaken.
China does not view the West as confident, unified, or strategically resilient. Increasingly, Beijing views western democracies, particularly the United States, as internally divided, economically burdened, culturally fragmented, and psychologically exhausted. This perception matters enormously because history demonstrates that wars and geopolitical crises often emerge not simply from raw military capability, but from how rival powers interpret each other’s strength, resolve, and cohesion….