(1) The fundamental issue is that 1950-1990 was not the normal way things are supposed to be, but actually an extraordinarily unusual period historically. That was peak Westernization and peak centralization:(2) As the center of mass of the world economy returns to Eurasia, where it was for thousands of years, the relative strength of the West has declined.(3) In isolation this wouldn't necessarily be bad, as a decline in relative terms could still of course be combined with an ascent in absolute terms. It' ...