Stephan:   I watch CGNTV, China's English language news channel, and read the English language newspaper websites of Asia. Almost unremarked in the U.S. a saga has been playing out to my increasing dismay. The the United States is being out played and out classed by China throughout the world. The Chinese take a longer view for one thing and, for another, perhaps because they have only recently brought a large nation into the modern age, they understand what the United States has forgotten: Non-violent massive infrastructure assistance is a much better social policy than war. Like the Marshal Plan the Chinese Belt & Road project will reap positive benefits for everyone. It is a classic proof of the Theorem of Wellbeing. It will be cheaper, more productive, more efficient, easier to implement, more pleasant to live under, and more enduring than war. It is a sad thing to watch your country sabotage its own self-interest, but what is inflicted on the individual, is reflected at the social level.