To read certain American geopolitical analysts, is to read fantasy fiction;
They assume that Modern China has learned no lessons from Qing China, the Japanese invasion, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution - and they are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
They assume that Modern China has learned no lessons from Qing China, the Japanese invasion, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution - and they are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
Anyone who claimed that Modern Britain reacts exactly the same way to the outside world as Victorian Britain, would be rightfully, laughed out of the room.
But quite a few US geopolitical analysts insist that Modern China will behave exactly like Qing China.
But quite a few US geopolitical analysts insist that Modern China will behave exactly like Qing China.
Then there's always a cliched discussion of China's internal geography - the assumption being that it hasn't changed for thousands of years - even when China now has 146,000 km of rail & 161,000 km of highways - which it didn't have during the Qing Dynasty.
It is this kind of flawed analysis that led to the debacle in Afghanistan. Westerners believed what they wanted to believe - but reality is a stubborn thing.
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