in the history of the world, there seems to be a direct relationship between solidarity around a group's identity and threats related to that identity--at least

in the history of the world, there seems to be a direct relationship between solidarity around a group's identity and threats related to that identity--at least that's been my impression and interpretation; as the PRC concentrates power at the top it becomes easier to destabilize and has strangely been extraordinarily successful at aligning the majority of the international community against them--regardless of any conflict--and appears to be comfortable continuing to do so; will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next few years, including how long Xi and the leadership holds up, as well as whatever actual capabilities exist when things get real;