We need to accept that Russia and Iran's littorial (a lesson in geography) is on the Caspian Sea/basin...their sphere of influence ain't going nowhere. [See why the conflict with Iran has nothing to do with their nuclear ambitions! - it's the Caspian Basin reserves] China also has invested heavily in the Caspian basin to secure future gas supplies.  

On the sheer might of population, the 21st century belongs to the east that, btw, includes Russia. Our Time Chart and influence has been diminished to expiring. Painful as it is, "" We need to accept that.""

"What a long, long way we are from accepting that!!  

Show me the successful politician that runs on accepting that!! I don't even disagree with you.  I don't.  I've been saying the same thing for ages.  But I have two points.

   1. advocates of this point of view are not in power anywhere in government or even in the government-in-waiting.
   2. there are real reasons why it is dangerous for the U.S. to cede the field to the Russians and the Chinese"

This premise posits we're locked into the status quo of our previous and present foreign policies.

Either we change/adapt or painful change will be imposed by the rest of the world.

On Point No:2, in particular, that's no longer an option; the cows, goats, pigs, horses and donkeys, have left the barn - gone and can't be rounded up.

We already ceded. While we were off on the Afghanistan/Iraq adventures, the Chinese were "taking advantage of ALL the opportunities" we gave them - securing resources for the foreseeable future in Canada, South America and Africa: (oil, iron ore, copper and other minerals). Case in point: China bought the rest of all the copper in Chile and Peru - a whole mountain range of copper - 50 years reserves. In Brazil, it's iron ore. Want to buy some iron ore from Brazil? ---  send your purchase order to China. In Africa, it's oil and minerals.

Yep, resource wars ahead. Sadly we're on our knees without a cane, bobbing and weaving on how we handle $750 trillion of OTC debt. This is the tip of it

- How do you require the bankrupt banks to buy back the trillions of these toxic OTCs that they sold?- at face value! Ultimate payor will be the Feds. The dam broke on this one, the cracks we ignored.

It's called the credit crisis. The Chinese may oblige to lend us more, the Russians too, if we play nice.

We are in no position to dictate or to stridently hold that we won't cede to their (Chinese and Russian) sphere of influence. And if one believes in peak oil, the option of colluding with the Saudis to price oil at $50/bbl thereby enabling a bankrupt Russia is not an option. Even if we did, Oh my, the USGS just announced in July, some 412 billion barrels of oil reserves in the Artic sea bed - most of this under the Russian flag! Oil at $50 won't hurt with these huge reserves.

During the last 16 years, Greed destroyed American capitalism. Now, China and Russia will read us the 11th commandment:

"The greedy shall not be fed"

Respect,

Peace.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"