Captain saab, When? now that's a question only God can answer. It won't happen overnight though. Its going to take a long time, that's for sure. I personally don't find it relevant to compare the past American experiences, for example, Vietnam war, oil crisis etc. and say, well, look, America didn't lose its superpower position even then, so, today's troubles too won't make America lose its superpower position. I personally feel its quite errorneous to think along that line because in the last 30 eyars the world has changed a lot, and along with it, the classic notions of super-power, hegemons etc. You can still ahve a lot of hard power but that's not enough to continue your global dominance or prominance (you can choose the former or the latter depending on your political viewpoint.) I am not saying the US will give up easily, no. The State department hires the best brains to maintain its worldwide influence, but smart brains are not alone to ensure your continuing dominance. There comes a point when the shit hits the fan and there's nothing one can do much. Of course you can delay the shit-hits-the-fan scenario, but you cannot avoid it. America still has the soft power, but its not going to last forever either. Given the new immigration law and the $$ to attend the US universities (i.e., good universities) many Asian stduents are choosing to attend universities in China and Europe. You can even find many American students attending undergraduate and graduate classes in A grade Chinese universities (Qinghua, Peking, Renmin and Hong Kong Universities.) You can watch Chinese movies almost everywhere in the world. And this is also quite important because once these students go back to their home countries, once they become who-is-who of their countries, they will tend to be more sympathetic or more tilted towards China. This is one important aspect which the western analysts predicting China's rise (or the hype of it) fail to grasp. You cannot really predict China sitting in your office in DC, you have to be in Beijing or elsewhere in China to actually see for yourself how in less than 30 eyars time China has come a long way. You cannot imagine China to have all the modern weapons that Ameica has for a long time, and China may not be a super-power in military terms for a long time to come, but in terms of economy and soft power, China will be able to take over the US in maybe, 30 years or so. India is another example. India will continue to grow too. Let's not underestimate India. Its our Nepali tendency to underestimate India's growth, but if we can be unbiased for a second and really look at what's happening, we have to admit that India too, has come a long way since its economic modernization. To sum up, let's be a bit technical: The US led unipolar world system is not going to last forever because it is abnormal. In the Westphalian state system that we live in today there are always two or more powers that check-and-balance each other, and that's what ensures stability and peace. Its just a matter of time, sooner or later a nation or a group of nations will team up to challenge the US dominance. And China will be in that group of nations, if not "THE" nation to challenge the US dominance. --- Captain saab, everything is well here. Thanks for your concerns. How are things there?