Ernest Hemingway’s description of his main character’s bankruptcy in The Sun Also Rises, “gradually, then suddenly,” is aptly relevant to the aging of the American leadership and its consequences. 

President Biden, who is 80, frail, and accident-prone (both physically and verbally), is running for another term. The 81-year-old Mitch McConnell, the powerful Senate Minority Leader, keeps freezing up like the software glitch in The Matrix. The 83-year-old Nancy Peloci, the powerful 52nd speaker of the House, just announced she wants her old job back. The 77-year-old ex-president Trump oscillates between the prospect of a jail cell and visions of the White House. 

This trend compels one to ask, what is going on? What are the consequences of an aging American leadership as we consider the role of experience and wisdom in the context of the vitality, grit, and tenacity required of a leader in today’s complex world?

As a case in point, take President Biden’s disgraceful exit from Afghanistan, his abandonment of our ally Israel in the Middle East, and his apparent strategy of fighting Russia down to the last Ukrainian soldier as a signal, to our allies and enemies alike, that NATO is a paper tiger.

Meanwhile, we see Italy dealing with a negative birth rate, Germany’s industry in recession, and England’s deterioration now worse than in the pre-Thatcher era, only to find it is China about whom we should be most concerned.

China’s real estate market is in trouble with massive debt and 80 million unoccupied homes, its export engine is sputtering, its private sector and stock market are at the mercy of the Communist Party, its technology is subject to American export bans, and its demographics are approaching those of Italy and Japan. Furthermore, 21.3% of China’s urban citizens between the ages 16 and 24 are now unemployed, ranking up there with the youth unemployment rate on the eve of the Arab Spring revolts.

Now consider the plight of Xi Jinping, China’s President for life, as he assesses his country’s weaknesses and the restlessness of the citizenry, viewing America as being led by an unpopular president, distracted by a pending election, and a de facto war with Russia. How long do you think before Xi decides that a “People’s War” in Taiwan might be the best strategy to distract his citizenry from the corner he has painted China into? In fact, Xi has already told his military brass to "prepare for war" and "fight to win.”

The next war is approaching gradually but will arrive suddenly.

— Sina.