Asia-based freelance journalist Francesco Sisci points out in this article that the 15-year distraction of the so-called War on Terror has diverted US attention from China, which is America's most significant rival. The Peoples Republic has consistently gained ground in the nonce.
As I have repeatedly argued, terrorism is principally a policing problem. When we think of it otherwise, we risk our civil rights and civil liberties in the name of a false notion of national security. (Consider how many police departments are armed and armored these days.) Only our energy dependence upon the Middle East has any legitimate claim upon a strategic geo-political status for that region.
Now comes a president who is likely to promote exploitation of America's own carbon energy resources. We have an historic opportunity for energy independence: a combination of clean carbon energy and infrastructure development that includes developing green energy alternatives.
Finally breaking the oil dependency that has chained us to the Middle East will enable Washington to focus on China in a meaningful way for the first time in a decade and a half.
I highly recommend a close reading of Sisci's analysis, linked above.
And to my academic-admin colleagues: if you are investing in political science faculty, it's time to reorient your programs to Sinologists. (A Russia specialist or two sprinkled in for leavening might not be a bad HR investment, too.)
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