Unipolar and Multipolar World Orders Are Unworkable by Derek Kelly: "On a more theoretical level, the constitutional foundation of the USA, and the many months and years of discussion by its founders over two hundred years ago leading up to the formation of the new country, was based on the realization that absolute power is abusive and, if unchecked and unbalanced, can lead to gross corruption. One only has to look at the current occupant of the White House to see the wisdom of that observation, for today, intoxicated by an illusion of absolute power, Bush, strutting and stuttering, has exercised his power as absolutely and ruthlessly as any tyrant, past or present. 'L'etat c'est moi...I am the ultimate arbiter of innocence or guilt; I am the final court of appeal for whomever I decide, American citizen or not, should be incarcerated, without bail or trial or accusation, for as long as I decide. I decide who should live or die. No law constrains me. No International Treaty limits me, in fact nothing constrains me to do as I please, certainly not a rubber-stamp Congress and a weak and compliant citizenry.'

Unipolarity is in fact a narcissism, a collective personality disorder. Narcissists are self-centered and make their needs and interests paramount over all others. They are insensitive to others, rationalize everything they do, and have a pathological need to control. It is quite evident that the US is in the grips of a collective narcissistic disorder, led by a man with malignant narcissism – grandiose in claims, manipulating others for its own purposes, and believing its own press releases."

...

"But not a bipolarity as in the old days, maybe a new bipolarity based on Mutually Assured Competition, MAC instead of MAD, between the US and China.

Yes, the US continues to believe that it is head and shoulders above any possible competitor. Yes, China with its long tradition of modesty and contempt for insufferable braggarts proclaims that it is only a "developing" county. But if we look at the facts, we see a different picture. Yes, the US has a 10 trillion dollar economy and close to 300 million people, while China has a 7.199 trillion dollar economy (including Taiwan and the autonomous regions), with more than four times the population. But those 7 trillion dollars can buy 70 trillion dollars worth of goods in China – where one dollar can buy what 10 or more dollars can buy in the West – and many other places in the world outside of the so-called "developed" countries in the West. Yes, if we compare the economies in terms of US dollars, China seems weak. But if we compare them in terms of buying power and productivity, China has many times the economy, and power, of the US."

(Via Lew Rockwell.)