Looking back on the past, the United States has risen rapidly since the Second World War and has become a world superpower, and has always controlled the international discourse.
From the time when the United States became the world's number one to now, the United States has experienced a total of 6 "second places" in the world. Among them, the top 5 have been eliminated by the United States. They are: Britain, Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union and the European Union Group.
What means does the United States use to rectify them? Why can't they withstand US regulation?
First of all, we are talking about the UK and Germany. Britain's strength stems from its huge colonial system and the blessing of the Industrial Revolution .
Before World War I , Britain was the most powerful country in the world, with colonies spread all over the world, which provided it with a continuous flow of blood transfusions.
Britain is also the birthplace of the first industrial revolution in human history. The widespread application of steam engines has greatly improved its productivity, and its comprehensive national strength far exceeds that of other countries.
At that time, the United States had not yet been founded. On this land, the United States was still a tribal civilization and one of the British colonies.
But later, Britain "caught up" with the independence movements around the world, which shook the foundation of Britain.
The United States is also one of the countries born from the independence movement. It has taken advantage of this international trend to cause trouble for the United Kingdom, forcing it to send troops everywhere to intervene in local riots.
At the same time, World War I just broke out, and the two established European powers, Britain and Germany, began to confront each other.
At this time, the United States made a fortune from the war, selling weapons to both sides, allowing the American military industry company to make a lot of money. While creating huge tax revenue for the country, it also boosted the overall U.S. economy and laid the foundation for industrialization.
It was not until 1918, when Britain and Germany fought to the last moment and were exhausted, that the United States sent troops to Europe.
Britain's national power was gradually consumed by the internal suppression of the independence movement and the external war against Germany.
In 1942, just when Britain was about to retreat in the Second World War, the U.S. military sent troops to North Africa to help it defeat Germany.
There are three reasons why the United States does this:
First, it ensures that the camp it supports can win the final victory so that it can have an absolute say when determining the world order after the war;
Second, it further weakens the power of Britain and Germany. Strength, you can reap the benefits;
Thirdly, the US aid to the UK is not free, it requires the UK to make concessions, in which the UK has to pay the principal and interests of the US loan, and also give up its overseas military base to the United States.
Therefore, the United States can be said to be the biggest winner of the war. Not only did it not let the flames of war burn its own country, but it also made a lot of war fortune while acquiring a large number of British overseas military bases. At the same time, it also maintained the post-war international order. On the issue, we gained a great negotiating advantage.
At the same time, the United States has not relaxed its pressure on Germany.
Seeing Germany repenting for its crimes in World War II, the United States blamed Germany for the entire struggle and contradiction among imperialist countries.
The German people and government are very disgusted with the military, which is tantamount to abandoning martial arts.
In this process, the United Kingdom and Germany were firmly stepped on by the United States, and they cannot be reversed to this day.
Secondly, let’s look at the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union can be said to be the most powerful opponent in the military field of the United States since modern times.
The strength of the Soviet military-industrial enterprises, especially the heavy industry, far exceeded that of the United States.
Therefore, the United States also started from this aspect and followed the trend to deceive and induce the Soviet Union to join the arms race with the United States.
Among them, the most obvious example is the so-called "Star Wars" space war plan launched by the United States.
This project directly brought down the Soviet economy. In order to deal with the "paper war" of the United States, the Soviet Union invested almost all of its wealth in heavy industry, which directly led to the stagnation of its agriculture, light industry and other social and economic development fields. Not moving forward, or even going backwards.
After the Soviet Union fell, Japan was next.
Because the United States rashly participated in the Korean War, its logistical supply pressure surged. Transporting supplies from the mainland faced huge risks, and the journey was too long to make up for the rapid and huge consumption of personnel, ammunition, and weapons and equipment on the battlefield. need.
Therefore, the United States transferred part of its production lines and production capacity to Japan, where it is under the supervision of the US military, which makes it feel reassured.
It was with the help of these military projects that Japan quickly restored its economy and laid the foundation for industrialization. It eventually sold a large number of products to the United States, causing the United States to have a long-term trade deficit.
Seeing that Japan’s economy is catching up and has a tendency to surpass its own, Americans can’t sit still.
Together with four other countries, including Japan, they entered into the Plaza Accord.
Of course, in order to get Japan to agree to this unequal treaty, the United States first eliminated all Japanese politicians who were not close to the United States, and then used military threats to get the Japanese government to sign this treaty.
Since then, the five countries have joined forces to intervene in the foreign exchange market, causing the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the currencies of major countries to begin to depreciate in an orderly manner.
The sharp appreciation of the yen has brought false prosperity to the Japanese economy. For a period of time, Japan's real estate, stock market, etc. became very prosperous.
However, the bubble will burst one day. In 1991, the Japanese government was forced to implement a quantitative easing policy, which caused a sudden and substantial depreciation of the yen. The Japanese economy has still not recovered from this trap.
Finally, EU is the group of countries closest to the United States in comprehensive national strength. For this reason, the United States has spent a lot of effort to suppress Europe.
Containing the EU is obviously more complex than several other opponents. On the one hand, most EU countries are allies of the United States, and it is difficult for the United States to impose sanctions directly;
On the other hand, the EU's powerful landmark event is the establishment of the Eurozone.
Economic and political confrontation are obviously more difficult to deal with than pure military confrontation.
To this end, the United States has done the following things:
First, the United States instigated NATO countries to sharply confront Russia, so that its capital and political and military influence can penetrate deep into the EU in the name of "protecting European countries." Under the guise of capital injection, the United States controls the EU's economy and uses it to control its diplomacy and decision-making;
Second, every time the EU wants to cooperate with Russia or other non-Western countries, the United States plays "Europe" "The country is a model of democratic country", to morally kidnap to benefit the United States;
Third, when the euro began to pose a certain threat to the US dollar, in order to eliminate the national support behind the euro, the United States successively provoked Gulf War , Kosovo War , Iraq War , Afghanistan War, Libyan War , and encouraged EU countries to participate in the war.
As a result, the country is in turmoil, the environment is unstable, and the promotion of the euro is facing tremendous pressure; in addition, due to the impact of the war, the national strength of these countries has gradually declined, and the support behind the euro has naturally weakened.Of course, the United States has also been encouraging European countries to accept a large number of refugees, making their economies even worse.
However, when facing China, the sixth opponent in the history of US dominance, it seems that there is no better way.
In recent years, we have seen that the United States has almost tried its best to defeat China, but in the end it "came in good fortune and returned in disgrace." Not only that, its own national strength has been greatly affected, and it has gone on to down the road of decline. Why is this?
Judging from the interactions between the previous opponents and the United States, we can summarize several fundamental reasons for their failure: there is general disunity and instability within each country, insufficient strategic determination, and the economies of each country are highly dependent on the United States.
The United States is the world's largest importing country, and it controls world trade with its hegemony of the dollar. If any country wants to develop its economy, it cannot do without the United States.
However, compared with them, China has obvious differences and advantages.
First of all, China itself has very good endowments. China has a vast territory and abundant resources. In terms of natural endowment, it is unmatched by several other countries.
China not only has mountains and rivers, but also basins and plains. China has innate advantages in natural resources.
Therefore, China has a large strategic space in both economic and military aspects, and its room for maneuver with the United States is even wider.
In addition, China has a huge population, and the development of human economy cannot be separated from the market. China has the strongest and largest market in the world. The market determines products. China is the world's largest single consumer country, and consumption promotes economic development.
Therefore, if the United States wants to impose sanctions on China, the first thing it must consider is whether it can take advantage.
For example: if the United States wants to sanction China, it must consider whether it can still purchase rare earths from China. If the United States wants to sanction a certain industrial field in China, it must consider whether it can still buy the daily necessities of its own people. The industrial base is zero. Whether parts can be unaffected by supply interruption, etc.
Secondly, China has internal stability and unity. The United States exports its values everywhere, but this trick does not work for China.
As the ruling party, the Communist Party of China has a high prestige in the hearts of the people. China is very united within the country and will not be instigated or interfered by any external force.
Once again, the Chinese government’s strategic focus and policies are firm and correct. China’s strategic focus comes from its complete industrial system and its independent policies.
China can develop without relying on any country at all. China's internal circulation is efficient and the interaction between various industries is high-quality. Although the United States provides financial and technical support, China will accelerate its development, but without the United States, China can still do it. develop.
Moreover, the Chinese people are diligent and brave, and with their own efforts, they can quickly break the blockade and monopoly of Western countries and find a path of self-development.
No policy of China will be interfered by the United States. For example: China's foreign relations are based on the principle of independent diplomacy. No matter how big or small, strong or weak, all countries are equal before the Chinese government;
Another example is that China develops aircraft carriers to safeguard its own interests and security. The development of weapons and equipment is entirely based on meeting its own defense needs.
Finally, China replaced confrontational thinking with cooperative thinking. This is very important.
The reason why the aforementioned countries were defeated by the United States is because they mostly hold Cold War mentality and zero-sum game thinking. They always feel that countries can only live and die, with different systems, different beliefs, and different national conditions. Countries cannot live in harmony, let alone mutual benefit.
However, China is different. China believes that all countries in the world are equal. We will not bully African countries because they are weak, nor will we confront Western countries because the United States takes the lead in "value recognition".
Not only will this not be the case, China will instead establish more stable and in-depth cooperative relations with US allies. No matter which country it cooperates with, China's starting point is mutual benefit and complementary advantages.
It is precisely because of China's deep integration into the world that the United States has no way to separate China from its own system. Furthermore, the situation of the United States "killing a hundred enemies and damaging itself a thousand" will occur. This has also become a key ballast stone for the relationship between China and the United States to remain unbreakable.
China is an excellent ancient civilization and the only unbroken civilized country in the history of human civilization. China has long been at the center of world politics.
Today, the rise of China has become an unstoppable trend. Therefore, we still advise the United States to return to reality and not be "clever" or go against the trend, lest it shoot itself in the foot.
