Obviously, the U.S. is the global imperialist hegemon.
Obviously, this needs to change-not only for the good of the world, but the good of the people of the U.S., most of whom don't wish to be the center of an empire.
Obviously, China and Russia counterbalance U.S. dominance to some degree.
Equally obviously, neither Russia NOR China are models of the type of world the Left should be trying to build.
Neither of those regimes is running an egalitarian society. Neither is a transparent or democratic society. Neither is a place where the creation of a real alternative to capitalist exploitation is possible under the current power structure.
Neither of these regimes should be seen as singularly evil or a present danger-at the same time, neither represents much of anything hopeful for the world.
We need counterbalance to the U.S. empire, but for once, for ONCE, could that counterbalance NOT be a paranoid, militaristic police state?
Just trying to argue for some position on the question of rival global powers that doesn't involve either emulating the Cold War or reducing anti-imperialism to "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".
Nothing good can come from replicating the choices some on the Left made on which states to support or defend in past decades, OR from going to the other extreme and "Choosing 'the West' " and ending up defending things like the mining of Haiphong Harbor and arming the Contras.
Neither side is worth it.