Came back to this, since you linked it elsewhere. This statement has become verifiable in the last 3 months. Maybe it was verifiable since 2003, because while the US kicked the shit out of the Iraqi military, we didn't dominate the political landscape in the way we should have. And that's obviously part of being dominant generally. In the leadup to Iraq II, when it became clear that the US was serious, Hussein started offering every concession except resignation. We should have taken him up on it. Zelensky did the whole world a favor by not capitulating to Putin's demands, insofar as we get to see in real time what not backing up your mystique looks like. Russia can't fight a one front war against an inferior enemy. Can China? Maybe. Across a straight, where they would use air power followed by an amphibious force? Maybe less so. With Biden coming out and telling them that the US would consider it an act of war against the US? I would think long and hard about that if I were Xi. Because the only major power militaries we've seen in action in recent years are the US and Russia, and the verdict is that Russia sucks and the US, for all our political ineptness, can put a real hurt on you from a distance that you can't match. If I were Xi, and I were looking for foreign adventurism to distract from my utter domestic failure, I would look straight to my limitless, eternal friend Russia. Go ahead and take back Vladivostok and see if the world cares....if you look impressive enough you never have to prove it. The minute shit gets kinetic, though, you have a lot to lose.