Certainly sounds possible. Look at it from the Chinese POV.
America has a weak President heading into an election year; he will soon either be a lame-duck President for two months, or (even better) America will have a weak President for the next four years. At the same time we are suffering a serious threat to our internal civil liberties from the Muslim world: the Pakistanis have told us point blank "Abrogate your freedom of speech or we will take it as an act of war."
If the Chinese confront us now, there is an excellent chance Obama will be forced to back down because he will have to choose between standing up to the Muslims or standing up to the Chinese: the Muslims are both weaker and threatening interests dearer to our heart than is China. Once Obama backs down on a point of contention it will be politically and diplomatically-difficult for his successor to revive opposition on this point.
What makes matters better from the POV of the Chinese is that China is Pakistan's primary ally against India -- it used to be America
( ... )
Unfortunately, you're right. As long as Obama is President, the US is like a badly wounded buck deer surrounded by wolves. We are in seriously deep shit thanks to him.
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America has a weak President heading into an election year; he will soon either be a lame-duck President for two months, or (even better) America will have a weak President for the next four years. At the same time we are suffering a serious threat to our internal civil liberties from the Muslim world: the Pakistanis have told us point blank "Abrogate your freedom of speech or we will take it as an act of war."
If the Chinese confront us now, there is an excellent chance Obama will be forced to back down because he will have to choose between standing up to the Muslims or standing up to the Chinese: the Muslims are both weaker and threatening interests dearer to our heart than is China. Once Obama backs down on a point of contention it will be politically and diplomatically-difficult for his successor to revive opposition on this point.
What makes matters better from the POV of the Chinese is that China is Pakistan's primary ally against India -- it used to be America ( ... )
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