In a great piece in Foreign Policy Magazine, Gideon Rachman asks us to "think again" about America's decline and the threat posed to the United States by China. 

Rachman acknowledges that America has been in a state of decline and vulnerability before, such as in the cases of Japan and the Soviet Union, but compares America's situation with the tale of the boy who cried wolf saying, "But a frequently overlooked fact about that fable is that the boy was eventually proved right. The wolf did arrive -- and China is the wolf."

He calls China the "largest part of a bigger story about the rise of new economic and political players," these being Britain, France, Italy and Germany and outlines why China, in particular, presents a more real threat than either Japan or the Soviet Union did in years past. 

Throughout the article, Rachman dispells what he sees as myths about the rise of China, including the notion that globalization is more beneficial for the west (i.e. America) than any other country.  In fact, he says it is quite the contrary, debunking the misunderstandings of former presidents that free trade would lead to China's democratization and that new democracies would become allies of the United States. 

Read the FP article in full.