Taiwan

America's two biggest threats, China and Russia, have chosen to self destruct but by different means. Russia the big bully on the playground got punched in the face by a little kid, Ukraine and now the rest of the kids, NATO have decided to chase the bully off the field. The cost of the war, the unexpected ineptness of the military and the sanctions have made Russia realize that they made a big mistake. It may take many years for them to face the fact that they lost, much like happened to them in Afghanistan but they will eventually lick their wound, literally and figuratively and head for home. The West can sit by and watch Russia slowly lose while Ukraine sinks into a morass of destruction or they can step in and negotiate a peace. China was the big beneficiary of globalization but that has come to an end. It was their constant manipulation of their currency while turning all power over to one man that set them on the wrong course. Add to that the decline of children as people moved from the farm to the city along with the government instillation of the one child policy and they now do not have enough young workers which means not enough consumers to maintain a healthy economy. The West, led by the US, is pulling out of China and bringing jobs home. Over the next few years the US will double its manufacturing resulting in an economic boom. This will bring on inflation but in short order productivity will out pace cost and inflation will stabilize. It will be a return to the 50's when people had good paying jobs and wages outpaced the cost of living. Private union membership, which today is at 6%, will return to the 30% of the 1950's. The big fear is that China acting like a wounded animal will strike out at Taiwan to distract the peoples attention from the collapsing economy. For this reason the US must set a course to start manufacturing the high end chips currently produced in Taiwan. The saving grace is that the Chinese military may see the folly in invading Taiwan and revolt but it is more likely that Taiwan will suffer. The West will not travel half way around the world to engage in a war with China to protect Taiwan unless once again the military industrial complex gets its way. This time the American people will refuse to send American troops to die for an island thousands of miles away.