Opinion | Afghanistan and beyond: China must learn from US hubris and blunders
- The tragedy of Afghanistan has made clear that the US is no longer the ‘indispensable nation’
- Let’s hope that China, which so resents being lectured by the US, won’t make the same arrogant mistakes overseas as America
The tragic lesson of Vietnam – yes, America should have learned; the similar lesson of Afghanistan – yes, America should have learned; but we did not.
I can particularly relate to college graduates studying in the US and abroad at public policy schools and international politics programmes; the idealism in their hearts is curbed by the realism in their heads.
In today’s world, there is no such thing as an indispensable nation, and now that we can forever retire that moniker on the altar of Kabul airport, let me add that my Chinese friends who might dare to imagine their nation as next up for the honour are doing their country a great disservice.
Hubris on that scale would be the beginning of a downfall. The East can always learn from the West, which has made enough errors of judgment and misplaced enough priorities as to offer the world a manual in what not to do.