I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts with Balaji and I think I can distill his entire thesis to:

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During the Cold War, we lived in a multipolar world where the USA was a force for good because it had a competitor.

Before the USSR collapsed, it tried to be more like the USA but could never out-USA the USA.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain and for the last 32 years we’ve been living a unipolar world with the USA being the lone superpower. This has led it to become increasingly aggressive and hostile to various nations around the world.

Now it looks like we’re moving into a multipolar world again with China as a competitor, the USA is trying to become more like China.

But like the USSR couldn’t out-USA the USA, the USA will never be a lie to out-China China.

The end.