Nations have always ascended to the top as a result of being victors of war, and our leaders have been fomenting friction around the globe to enrich themselves off of the military-industrial complex.
Perhaps you took them as scare tactics, but those were the honest politicians warning the people that we cannot continue to deficit spend into wealth. Even nations must live within their means.
But gimmicks were employed which for a while gave the impression of wealth, but it was a structure built upon a house of cards that was doomed to collapse at some point in time. It would have happened a lot sooner had we not had our dollar as the world's reserve currency. That luxury afforded & enabled them just just keep kicking the can down the road. Well, they are running out of road & gimmicks as well.
Putin was correct when he said that it's the US dollar that provides the US with its power. As that continues to decline, do you not think someone will challenge the US militarily? It's not like we have had a real stellar success story. We now have a leader that is not only corrupt, but is also extremely weak. No wonder Putin prefers Biden over Trump.
Batten down the hatches, t's only going to get much worse if we fail to get Trump back into office. Who will follow then becomes the next concern. I think our days are numbered, unless we can also bring back the Lord as well, & reverse the terrible decisions that have been made over the last 80 years since our victory in WWII.
China will follow Sun Tzu tactics—patiently bide their time.
There is no rush for them—years, decades, even a century—but they will strike.