ABSTRACT
At the start of the new millennium, China is the last great counterbalance to the United States. With the rapid growth of its economy and military over the last two decades, it is poised to challenge the US's economic and military supremacy in the next decade. Culturally, because of its relative isolation from the world during the Cold War and the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), it is one of the least Westernized areas of the globe. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, the US emerged as the singular economic, political and cultural superpower in the world at the same time that China was emerging from 40 years of isolation and beginning to take its place on the world stage. At that time, there was a kind of Chinese infatuation with the US, which was regarded like a benevolent parent. Now, Chinese people say that the US was poised to accomplish great good in the world but did not use its power well. I find the expectation that any power monopoly will use its power well to be naive, since I support the notion that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Global harmony will require the preservation of political and cultural diversity within agreed-upon frameworks of similarity. World peace needs a strong China. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be an opportunity to observe whether the Olympics are fulfilling their potential to contribute to the realization that, as John MacAloon puts it, ‘We respect each other because we are the same in our differences'. [1]
