This is a great thread. China's investment in the African continent is bearing fruit IMO.

For every country like Ghana and Kenya that the West counts on as allies there are countries like Gabon, CAR, Djibouti who will side with the Chinese in the UN. https://twitter.com/gyude_moore/status/1290986894755532801

I also don't think the West should be as confident of "winning" this Cold War with China.

It has an economy that Russia didn't have - they've played a blinder of a long game there.

Also the West has eroded the key thing that convinced the Russian people - it's democracy.

The US Senate failing to meet with Merrick Garland. The UK Government proroging Parliament.

Are the Chinese students who go to the US or UK to study, going to look at this and think it's superior to what they have?

Are Africans or the Middle East going to take the US seriously when they criticise how their countries are run, or complain about corruption?

(This isn't about the political views of the GOP or Dems - it's about partisanship & enabling broken norms during and prior to Trump.)

Personally I think the single most important thing that Western democracies have to do to win is to govern openly and to govern well. Everything else follows

Democracy has to be something that is envied by the Chinese (& the world), to stand any chance of winning in the long run