This is the sort of thing that makes me wonder if China can maintain its
current path:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/world/asia/17china.html

Basically: does authoritarianism scale, or inevitably succumb to
internal power struggles? This article would suggest some of the
latter, that the Chinese leadership is losing control as the military,
finance, and industrial sectors act with increasing autonomy --
sometimes in defiance of the central leaders' will.

It's interesting how the conversations about the Chinese rise to power
rarely discuss the possibility of true internal dissent, or desperate
actions to contain it. That's actually what frightens me most: there's
no legitimate reason for the Chinese to go to war with the US or its
neighbors, but war is a fantastic distraction from internal dissent.

Ultimately I continue to bet on the US because out of all nations, I
think we're the best of managing internal content, which is ultimately
the greatest threat to any power -- imperial or otherwise.

-david