Superpowers

Amid the many articles about the fifth anniversary of 9/11, I notice the news that China has increased its censorship of the media by banning foreign agencies from distributing their own reports. From now on, the state-owned Xinhua news agency has the power to censor foreign reporting.

Obviously, this is a bad development. It struck me because I've used Xinhua myself to get news about China, and I've always been impressed by its constructive criticism of the Chinese government. On second thoughts, I suppose I've never seen anything there about Taiwan, ethnic minorities or human rights.

David Cameron today spoke against "anti-Americanism", which he says "represents an intellectual and moral surrender". It has often been remarked that America's unilateral approach to the "War on Terror" has lost it much of the worldwide sympathy it gained after 9/11. Certainly there is much in American foreign policy that deserves criticism. On the other hand, if we must have a world superpower, I think I would rather it be America than anyone else, so I'm inclined to agree with Cameron on this one. Previous superpowers, from the Roman Empire to the Mongols to the British, respected other societies far less than the Americans have done. I am grateful the Soviet Union lost the Cold War.

As China grows in confidence, it is worth asking ourselves what sort of superpower it might become. I am no great lover of America, but I know who I would prefer exercising world dominance. Today, as we reflect on the last five years, I hope that anti-Americanism isn't the abiding legacy of 9/11.