The situation in the world is changing rapidly and unpredictably.
The certainty is that, for America, if the GOP remains in power (via control of the Senate), America is just going to stumble along for the time being. (C’mon, Georgia! Uncle Same needs a new pair of shoes!)
For Russia, whatever Putin has sucked out of America had better satisfy him -- at least until 2024 -- because that spigot will be closed on January 20th -- regardless what happens in Georgia.
For China -- Hong Kong remains a mystery. Will it be allowed to maintain it’s semi-independent economic status? How many encroachments will the Chinese Communist Party make on that status? The economic ramifications can either be neutral or very serious for the Chinese government. Neutral if they back off -- at least somewhat. Serious if they just decide to incorporate HK lock stock and barrel into their communist system. But regardless of Hong Kong's situation and how it evolves, China is an economic juggernaut and will continue to be so. China, not America, has been involved in infrastructure and other economic development throughout Africa. (I’m not all that conversant on the topic, but it seems we send Special Ops soldiers and assassins, China sends engineers.) And she already manufactures most products that carry America labels. And militarily she’s become a mammoth, a sword-rattling, boundary-pushing mammoth. So far I think she parades her military might just to keep other nations (like the pre-Trump U.S.A.) from even thinking about confrontation. Her moves at expansion have been contained within a relatively small geographic sphere, I think, because she doesn’t want land so much as dominance and power.
(So much for any resurgent optimism, on my part, for the new year.)
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