Anne Applebaum - No one wants America to be the sole global superpower, but no one wants to share the load.

Whenever I read Ann Applebaum, I always wonder why I’m reading Ann Applebaum. I guess the answer is, she talks about the world outside of America’s borders. And that’s really good! But ultimately, she’s a American married to a Polish politician who writes about Russia being bad and America needing to do… something. So we get grafs like:

And thus we are left with a curious situation: America no longer wants to be the sole superpower. The American president no longer wants to be the leader of a sole superpower. Nobody else wants America to be the sole superpower, and, in fact, America cannot even afford to be the sole superpower. Yet America has no obvious partner with which to share its superpowerdom, and if America were to cease being a superpower, nothing and no one would take its place.

What is curious about the situation of there not being a global superpower? Why do we need a global superpower? Why is the world better off with a global superpower?

Here’s a list of multicontinent superpowers:

• Islamic Caliphate
• Mongols (not really multicontinent, but Asia is big, so they get a pass)
• Spanish
• British
• Americans (not really multicontinent, but Coca-Cola is delicious, so they get a pass)

A lot of history has gone by with no superpowers. And it worked out OK, for the most part. The world can get by just fine with regional powers that have regional interests. Yeah, having a global superpower makes it easier to open the Silk Road or fill Brazil with half-black people, but for normal, everyday stuff it’s not that big a deal. We’ll be OK, Ann! The world will be fine without anyone in charge.

But wait! She tells us:

China, whatever else it might be, is still the world’s fastest-growing economy. Sooner or later, the simple need to defend their economic interests might persuade one or both to start taking the outside world more seriously.

OK, A) fastest growing = starting very low makes it easier to rack up higher percentage growth. Still so much smaller per capita, there’s no economists predicting parity in 50 years. B) Yeah, China is moving into Africa in a big way. And China cares a lot about its regional neighbors. But if you think China gives a hoot about Swedes getting gay married or Afghans wearing burquas, you’re nuts. China absolutely does not care what the rest of the world does, so long as they get their props at home and money abroad. That’s all they want. We don’t need the World Police to throw them in Nation Jail to stop their plan of global domination. They have no plan of global domination. That’s the whole point of the first part of the article!

According to Xinhua, the Chinese press agency, Wen told Obama that “China disagrees to the suggestion of a ‘Group of Two.’ ” China is “still a developing country,” he said, and “we must always keep sober-minded about it.” China is delighted to continue its economic relationship with the United States, but China “pursues the independent foreign policy of peace and will not align with any country or country [blocs].”

Translation: China will not cooperate in placing sanctions on Iran, China will not hinder North Korea’s nuclear missile program, and China will not help solve the problems of Afghanistan, the Middle East, or anywhere else. In short, China has decided that it will not become America’s full partner in foreign policy.

China not wanting to follow America’s foreign policy doesn’t mean they have their own secret plan. Their plan is this: leave the world alone and try to figure out how to get money from them. It’s not a secret plan. It’s quite well known.

Global military and security thus look set to remain in the hands of the United States, whether the United States wants it or not.

What does that even mean? Gah. Why am I reading Ann Applebaum!?