As a former national security and foreign policy professional at both the State Department and the Defense Department, I have been following intently our 21st century "Great Game" of geopolitical strategy against our most formidable foe, China. Unfortunately, it is a game that we are losing badly and there is precious little time to turn it around. The results of our current political predicament are indicative of just how pervasively the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has co-opted our civic institutions -- our media, academia, entertainment, the church, political class, essentially our entire culture, not to mention the international organizations and NGOs meant to lend legitimacy to decisions affecting the existing global order.
​Famed pundit Andrew Breitbart was spot on with his analysis years ago that American politics was "downstream of culture" and that ceding the culture war to the left to focus on policy was a monumental mistake by the right. While both American political parties have moved leftward, this cultural revolution helped pave the way for the Democrat party to go from welfare reform in the 1990s to straight up socialism today. China had their Cultural Revolution, which resulted in the deaths of millions in the 1960s and 1970s. And, because of the combination of the historical ignorance of our youth and the subversion of our national identity (burning statues, rewriting history, moral degeneracy to name a few), we're sadly on the cusp of some serious political violence right here in America. The fact that I just typed that out leaves me with a profound sense of dread.
​To frame the strategic situation, let's explore the recent history of China and its relationship with the West. Following the Second World War, the dissolution of the Japanese Empire in Asia saw the Chinese Communists rise and evict the nationalist forces of the Kuomintang (KMT) to the island of Taiwan. For years afterward, both sides remained proxies for the Soviets and the Americans respectively during the Cold War. President Nixon famously extended his hand to China in 1972 as part of a gambit to pry them from the Soviet Union's sphere of influence, similar to what the Soviets had been doing in our Latin American backfield in the 1950s and 1960s. Little did we know what dangerous consequences that would have for America almost five decades later. ​While the Communist Chinese had already begun to distance themselves from the Soviets in the 1960s, America offered the carrot of trade and normalization with the most dynamic economy in the world to complete the schism. We must remember that until just a few decades ago China was essentially a Third-World country, albeit one with a nuclear arsenal. The vast majority of the population was poor, scraping together a serf's existence indicative of life under communism, whilst trying to avoid becoming a victim of Mao's purges.
​At the time, this was hailed as a tremendous foreign policy achievement. I'm going to make the case that hindsight being 20-20, we merely supplanted one evil empire for another except with this one we essentially gave our adversary all the rope they would need to hang us with. Let me explain. ​First, insight into the Chinese mindset. The Chinese refer to themselves as "Zhong Guo," or, "Middle Kingdom." They see themselves as the center of the world. After all, they have been around for thousands of years. They see us, this upstart super-power that has only been around for two centuries, as a threat.
​Second, while flitting Americans tend to think in the short term, the Chinese always craft 10 year strategic plans. They have been extremely patient, as evidenced by their fondness for "Go" or, literally, the encircling game, which requires anticipation and much forethought. Take the Parable of Goujian: ​In 492BC, Goujian, king of Yue in modern Zhejiang, was taken prisoner after a disastrous campaign against King Fuchai, his neighbor to the north. Goujian was put to work in the royal stables, where he bore his captivity with such dignity that he gradually won Fuchai's respect. After a few years, Fuchai let Goujian return home as his vassal. Goujian never forgot his humiliation. He slept on brushwood and hung a gall bladder in his room, licking it daily to feed his appetite for revenge. Yue appeared loyal, but its gifts of craftsmen and timber tempted Fuchai to build palaces and towers even though the extravagance ensnared him in debt. Goujian distracted him with Yue's most beautiful women, bribed his officials and bought enough grain to empty his granaries. Meanwhile, as Fuchai's kingdom declined, Yue grew rich and raised a new army. Goujian bided his time for eight long years. By 482BC, confident of his superiority, he set off north with almost 50,000 warriors. Over several campaigns, they put Fuchai and his kingdom to the sword. ​ If you are thinking that sounds familiar, it should, because the Chinese have done the same to us. We owe them about $1.5T dollars, and they are one of the single largest holders of US debt. How did this once poor communist country acquire the ability to lend the largest economy in the world such vast sums of money? We gave it to them.
​Through a series of trade deals and the accession of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO), it was now able to compete for labor and business globally. China's workforce, while unskilled, was only a half step above slave labor and thus, remarkably cheap. Coupled with increasing regulatory burdens in the US, a giant sucking sound of jobs leaving America hollowed out the once formidable US industrial base, most notably in the "Rust Belt" states. President Trump understood this, which is a big reason why he captured the White House in 2016. It's also the reason he's being robbed of it right now, but more on that in a moment. ​For the record, I am a free-trade advocate. I believe that voluntary cooperation in economic pursuits benefits everyone and that tariffs hurt consumers. However, I would not be honest with myself or my readers if I did not acknowledge the negative ramifications of this devil's bargain with such an implacable foe. Sun Tzu, arguably China's greatest philosopher/strategist famously said, "the acme of skill is to win without fighting." I am convinced the Chinese are on the cusp of achieving this goal with us.
​This hollowing out of the industrial base of America left our economy vulnerable to foreign price shocks and logistical bottlenecks. China's stranglehold on certain manufacturing sectors represented a strategic weakness for America. For years, the American political establishment, echoed by the media, academia and other "elites" exemplified by the likes of Joe Biden, pressed the cause of globalism, extolling the virtues of an interconnected world. Corporations got richer, as did government officials, and middle America was left behind.
​Along came President Trump which upended that order. His demand that China play fair on trade and subsequent tariffs put a dent in the gravy train of which all elements of the aforementioned institutions seemed to be getting a piece of. How else to explain the animosity toward him from EVERY sector of civic society? Cui bono? Who benefits? Follow the money. ​In essence, the Chinese, just as Goujian in the parable, took their profits and bribed us into complacency and extravagance. They used their new-found wealth to buy off our entertainment industry, the media, academia, politicians (both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Atlantic) so as to create a worldwide cabal of propagandists all ready to resonate at the same frequency to sow fear and unrest in their rivals' domestic affairs and destroy them from within, should the need arise. COVID and the 2020 Election
​If you are China, it makes no sense to confront an American adversary force on force, you'd lose. We have the strongest and most capable military force in the world. It does make sense, however, to use our own strengths against us. The openness of our society and culture leaves us vulnerable to subversion and demoralization from within, as famed Soviet defector Yuri Bezmenov warned us about nearly 40 years ago. I highly encourage those not familiar with Bezmenov to watch the embedded interviews here. ​President Xi of China, having spent time in America and understanding us fairly well, no doubt slept on brushwood and licked gall for the past 4 years, waiting for the right time to deploy his final strategy. A massive information operation to frighten the adversary and sow confusion and discord amongst her population. After all, frightened tax cattle are more easily manipulated and certainly more profitable than dead ones.
​Enter COVID. A mysterious foreign ailment that prompted an unprecedented lockdown of the most robust economy in American history, not to mention those of other western nations, effectively knee-capping China's competition. Using their extensive global propaganda network, thinly sourced and researched "news" circulated the globe and was repeated either intentionally or unwillingly until it became the prevailing narrative. Horrifying "speculation" from "experts" reinforced this narrative. This prompted the government overreaction that has been the single biggest attack on American civil liberties since the era of slavery, something that would have never been achievable on people thinking calmly and rationally.
​Astro-turfed riots by outside agitators under the guise of racial justice sowing chaos in an election year were all choreographed so as to impose maximum damage on a chief geopolitical rival. As the panic subsided, and some people began thinking clearly and asking questions, it became clear that our betters would never let this "new normal" recede. It's a method of control and it gave the enemies of freedom here in America all the ammunition they needed to impose the socialist utopia they always wanted, but without having to get it passed with pesky "laws" or "consent of the governed." ​I could not fathom how so many Americans could essentially commit treason and sell out their country for money. But then the Hunter Biden laptop put it all into perspective. I could see the strategic level play, but not how it was being implemented at the tactical level. Not only are these traitors being bribed, but they are so fully compromised in terms of blackmail of such disgusting depravity that they do not dare cease serving their Chinese masters, lest they be jailed or worse.
​The end game is at hand and it will continue to play out for the next two months. Big tech, the media, domestic terrorists, and foreign adversaries are actively trying to overturn the will of the American people, and they have been since President Trump won four years ago. Government officials in some of our most powerful agencies are involved in covering up massive amounts of crime. Others are fighting to expose it. Should his legal challenges succeed and the chicanery be exposed, many millions will not accept the result. Should the most massive voter fraud operation be successful and a compromised Presidential candidate be illegally installed, it will represent the most brilliant coup ever exercised in history....and many millions will not accept the result. ​This is a fight for the soul of our nation, the legitimacy of our system, and freedom for the world. China may succeed in destroying us from within; at the very least, we will be taken off the game board in East Asia, which was likely their plan all along. By God's grace, if this is exposed and justice is served, the President will have another four years to finish cleaning out or exposing subversive elements within all of our civic institutions. We will beat back these internal enemies of freedom and then can focus on holding China to account. If not, then the last vestige of liberty for the world will have been extinguished, in which case God help us all.