The principal conflict in today's world is between the United States and China. This book by professor Hudson explains this conflict as a prosess of international transformation, above all in the sphere of economic systems and policy. He explains why the U.S.-China conflict cannot simply be regarded as market competition between two rivals. It is a broader conflict between different political-economical systems - not only between capitalism and sosialism as such, but between the logic of an industrial economy and that of a financialized rentier economy increasingly dependent on foreign subsidy and exploitation as its own domestic economy shrivels.
(Fra forord, side III)

Seeing the Pax Americana unravelling, Brzezinski by 2016 acknowledged that United States «is no longer the global imperial power». That is what is making so urgent its antagonism toward China and Russia, along with Iran and Venezuela. The conflict is deeper than just national trade rivalry. The underlying issue is whether money and credit, land, natural resources and monopolies will be privatized and concentrated in the hands of a rentier oligarchy or used to promote general prosperity and growth. This is basically a conflict between finance capitalism vs. socialism as economic systems.

There are essentially two types of society; mixed economies with public checks and ballances, and oligarchies that dismantle and privatize the state, taking over its monatary and credit system, the land and basic infrastructure to enrich themselves but choking the economy, not helping it grow. The lesson of history is that privatized oligarchies polerize and become failed states. Mixed economies with governments strong enough to protect their society and people from predatory rentier exploitation are successful and resilient.