I guess it depends on what you mean by "stand up to". china seems to be more or less getting its way in regional disputes and extending its sphere of influence

I guess it depends on what you mean by "stand up to". china seems to be more or less getting its way in regional disputes and extending its sphere of influence further. what I'm getting at is that it doesn't seem very useful to discuss what economic/political systems might work in a vacuum. maybe an isolated communist society could be a true utopia, but that doesn't really matter if a belligerent neighbor has planes, tanks, and nukes. a society can't last unless it can at least deter attacks from outside.