When will China take the Crown?

[The Wizard]

And in 1840, Alexis de Toqueville made the prediction that the 20th century would see Russia and the US as the two rivalling superpowers.

Some predictions are 'more equal' than equal predictions.

A prediction made under influence of the horribly incorrect theory that big countries naturally get into conflict with each other. De Tocqueville's prediction is basically a lucky guess, which I might add came true due to completely unrelated factors.

Chongqing. Most people will have never heard of it. It is a provincial town. It is three times the size of Paris.

That's mostly because it's also geographically three times the size of Paris. The city itself, with a population of 5 million, is, while large, smaller than Paris. Anyhow, it's also the most important industrial area in China's hinterland, not just some random "provincial town".

Look, I don't know what kind of dimwits you are accustomed to, but I am getting a bit tired of your constantly adressing me as if I'm one too.

Whoa, slow down, sparky. I was merely inquisitive (and failed at communicating that, apparently). Must have misread, my bad

(As an aside, even then it'd be incorrect, seeing as American hegemony had ended long before Bush's election)