Very nice short report that gives the broad stroke version of an extremely important topic for the current military superpower (the US). The current economic superpowers (European Union, China, and the up and comming Russia) are about to show the US what the rest of the world cares about.

The commentary is thoughtful and provoking. A few nuances and perceptions do not seem to be as considered as others. "Liberal Democracy" is a term that perhaps does not collect the US destructive drift away from being a liberal democracy under Bush into becoming a regressive country where rich corporations control the press and the financing of expensive candidacies. And the present administration seems not interested in spreading democracy, rather in spreading unfettered capitalism and trying to say it is the same as democracy. The neo-con corruption of the meaning of democracy may well be responsible for the low opinion of it worldwide. More is needed than charm.

This is a very good opinion peice with limited sources.

I have been wondering why the emergence of China and Russia's new-found confidence have not been more a part of the presidential debates. The writer has put his finger on America's most important foreign policy challenge for the next 50 years, except that India and South America were not mentioned. This opinion is well worth reading. As journalism it fulfills the professional mission of informing beyond the trends of reporting and opinion elsewhere in the media.

The author smartly situates America's political challenges within the economic realities of Chinese and Russian developments, and also smartly reminds Americans to "walk the walk" values-wise, but he neglects to make the case for why the American value proposition is in fact competitive with the Russian and Chinese story lines. Various comments on the Guardian site chide him for being a rich white guy who doesn't acknowledge the poor and disenfranchised of the West. I think the piece is a good one as far as it goes, though Porter perhaps underestimates how non-obvious are the benefits of a liberal "democracy plus capitalism" to a vast and increasing population of quasi educated readers who get their info from the Internet. The ... More »

Love the lack of ideological sugar-coating. Just facts and straight talk. Go Brits!