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1) China's economy matching the US: not really. When Billy makes his reports on what China is doing he always includes a big dose of insular attitude and protectionism. Most previously-socialist countries of the world are trying to add a dose of capitalism to their mix because they see the gains in productivity. But that is not the only ingredient they need, and they don't see this yet.
2) Europe renouncing NATO: Europe's problem is that most of the European countries have allowed their military to lag severely in order to compete economically. After you do that for many years, your military winds up pretty weak. It's not just one year's worth of spending, but repeated years that lead to such a situation.
Germany: $40 billion, 1.8% of GNP
United Kingdom: $35.1 billion, 3.1% of GDP
France: $47.1 billion, 3.1% of GDP
Italy: $21.5 billion, 2% of GDP
Spain: $8 billion, 1.6% of GDP
USA: $284.4 billion, 4.2% of GDP
Europe, as a military force, would have to undertake massive spending just to get to the point where they were all able to fight at night, or with each other's communication systems, etc. I don't think, with their current tax situation, they would be interested in increasing taxes by 50% in order to get there.
3) This "unilateralism" included most eastern European countries, who were told by Chiraq that they missed their opportunity to shut up. Don't miss another opportunity!*
*I say this in jest. Please keep posting.
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