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Entry: Regime Change Redux Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/regime_change_redux#7605 Post contents: Mr Nucci asked, "One must also ask where does China stand in all of this? I think if there were a Russian and Chinese alliance it would certainly rival the European U.S. alliance." 1. China's central government will cheer behind the scenes for any resistance against real or perceived American hegemony (the Chinese tend to over-estimate America's real power), but there would be no practical advantage for them to back Iran militarily even if they were able to do so. And they're not able to do so. 2. A Russian-Chinese alliance? When hell freezes over. Russians regard the Chinese as among their ancient enemies; Russia's self-perceived historical role for almost a thousand years has been as the "shield of Christendom" against the South and East (even in WWII and after, Soviet propaganda portrayed the Red Army as the saviours of Europe, and there was a germ of truth in that - at least more truth in it than the posters of Hitler as a Christian crusader), and in the long run they will align themselves more and more strongly with Europe, while the European-American alliance continues to fade into extinction. Meanwhile I TEND to think Britain will return to its pre-20th-century role as sui generis among European nations, distancing itself from America and, I think PERHAPS, drawing closer both culturally and strategically to its kindred Anglo-Saxon nations, Canada and Australia (and America is no longer really one of them, alas) - but that's more speculative than my prediction that Russia will draw closer to Europe in the long run. Sent at: 2008 05 16