Is the USA now second to China in world order?

[NotYetHeating]

Does anyone else feel slightly (or perhaps alot) worried about the fact that soon, if not already China will be the dominant superpower rather than the USA.

I suppose because the USA and UK have always been closely linked and to a great degree 'the same' it felt safe when they were in charge.

China just seems like a whole different world with a different culture. I know they are more westernised that they used to be but still quite different.

I think what really brought it home to me was when Donald tried to impose tarriffs on China and there was a bit off a stand off and the Chinese didn't back down. I think Donald was a bit shocked. It really brought it home to me that the USA might no longer be 'in charge' of the world order.

Dollars was always the currency I got for going abroad will it now be Yen? (Do travellers cheques even exist anymore)

It seems China has huge oil reserves and has just amassed a huge amount of power and control and resouces but have been quite stealth about it.

I sort of hope when the next president comes in things might go back to normal a bit. For example will we be less bothered about our defence budget if we get a 'normal' president again who seems more like an ally. Or has that gone forever.

I know China have been getting bigger and stronger for quite a number of years now (probably 30) but all of a sudden it does seem like the USA might be losing out to them.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Lots of thoughts; The US debt huge issue they are in a vulnerable spot. Wasted munitions. It’s estimated it will take 10 years to restock, they can’t defend a thing. Refused munitions to Saudi just last week to deter Houthis.
The government is desperate for money (oil gas minerals) so the gangsterism is unlikely to change.
Corruption is now blatantly obvious, this will affect investment.
It will take a generation for the US to regain credibility.
For starters every country will need to assume more military responsibility, be more self reliant.

Yep it’s all part of their belt and road initiative.

Read - Sun Tzu - the art of war. The art is to overpower your enemy without shedding a single drop of blood.

Frankly, given the god awful state of the USA and the amazing progress and development of China (I have lived there for a prolonged period) I'd much rather China was dominant than the US.

China don't have huge oil reserves. They have a large amount of coal but very little oil within their own country. Quite sensibly they have reacted to this by investing heavily in alternatives to oil (first coal and hydro-electricity then renewables like solar and wind). Presumably so that they can skip the oil part of energy development and go straight from coal to renewables as much as possible. They have also stockpiled large stores of oil (this isnt the same as having large natural oil reserves) by buying and storing oil. These two things combined meant that when America started it's nonsense with Iran China could massively reduce the amount of foreign oil it bought and rely on it's reserves. This was good for them. It was also very good for the world economy including Britain since it helped to reduce the impact on prices. They still went up, but they would have gone up a lot more if it weren't for China's actions. They may have saved the world from a global recession. Of course that may be a temporary reprieve since the Iran war doesn't show signs of slowing down and eventually Chinas on own reserves will reduce. We could also have done what China has done and concentrated more respources in transitioning to green energy but we didn't and so we are very vulnerable to rising fossil fuel prices. That was our decision, as was Brexit.

Currently China is being affected economically by America's tariffs. It's hard to tell exactly how badly. However this does mean there is unquestionably an overproduction problem in the Chinese economy and since they can't absorb it (their attempts to transition to a consumer economy haven't worked that well) they are now dumping a lot of that excess on other markets including Europe/the UK. This is great if you want to buy a cheap EV. Less good if you are a European EV manufacturer.

China aren't saints and have persecuted minorities within their borders, funded.violent regimes (Myanmar, NK) and will take actions to benefit their own economy even if it hurts economies elsewhere. This is also true of America. China aren't uniquely evil either.

I think as much as Europe/America are facing problems that China has an advantage in there are other serious internal issues China is facing. Half the YouTube videos/articles about China want you to think they are living 50 years in the future and the other half that they are, apparently, on the brink of collapse and there are only 59 people left in the country and all the buildings are made of tofu. It's probably neither of those things.

I do think Americas star is waning. But ai also don't think America really see the UK as allies any more. So regardless of whether America is doing well/badly in comparison to China that's probably more of an issue and something the UK needs to figure out a plan for.

China also has a lot of debt. This is structured completely differently and is not necessarily a bad thing anyway since using debt to fund infrastructure build out is sensible. If the return in terms of GDP outpaces the debt long-term than the debt to GDP ratio is manageable/shrinks. (Also why austerity in the UK didn't reduce our debt to GDP ratio and in the long run made it much worse). But for that to work, China needs the spending to result in a continually growing economy long term and the issues affecting world economic growth also affect them.
Their economic situation isn't as idiotic as Americas and they don't seem as intent on self harm. But it's not the case that the West as a whole is hopelessly drowning in debt and doomed while China is debt free and building amazing infrastructure for the cost of a pack of biscuits. Their economy is different to ours but facing similar challenges. And our economies are also heavily meshed with each other and with America and with the rest of the world. It's not as simple as a zero sum "China does well, America loses V America does well China loses"

Just like reinvesting in military needs, at some point countries will need to maintain manufacturing skills.

Not yet, but it will be.

Basically the US is in the same position the UK was in the 1920s.

It is on the way out and China will replace it. No question.

Certainly a declining power and with the way minute by minute details can be broadcast around the world, the decline will be faster than Spain or the UK’s in the 1920’s.
What will develop is most likely to be various groupings of smaller powers; ex France and Germany teaming up on military expertise, another group financial strength.

The USA used to be able to lend a moral high ground internationally too - they stood for the rule of law, fairness and democracy.
Trump is such woeful statesman that his words no longer carry any moral weight, and that’s important. America is just transacting pragmatically in its own interests at the expense of decades of carefully constructed diplomatic ties. That will take years to repair.

Ps - I’m not for a moment saying that the US hs been much good at upholding the law, being fair or occupying a moral high ground - but that was the brand they projected, buffered on all sides by the greatest supply of military strength the world has ever known. Now both those things are sketchy.