What are the biggest challenges to nurturing this relationship in the years ahead?
In the U.S., it’s confusing power with affluence, thinking we have to be on top to have the world we want. It’s adjusting to a world that’s multipolar, multifaceted. Militarily, the U.S. is going to be dominant for decades, but the military is not the tool that can create the world the way we want. For China, it’s the struggle for a government that wants complete and total say over what people say and do. Once people get accustomed to economic security, they may find themselves not so satisfied with a lack of political participation. Even if that doesn’t change, the ability of China’s central government to control their world is awfully difficult in a porous world, no matter how many Internet barriers they erect. Kris Hundley can be reached at khundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996. Zachary Karabell is an author, academic and money manager who has been an observer of and investor in China’s phenomenal rise. • In Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World’s
