Thomas Friedman, NY Times columnist, wrote in an interesting recent article that the world is faced with three immense “climate” changes. Leadership in the world will be given to those who respond to these changes the best.
One of the changes is actually about climate. This change has been happening for a long time – the difference now is that it is no longer a “later” problem, it is a “now” problem. Later will be too late. Category 6 hurricanes are going to happen. The Amazon is going to be deforested if a day more is lost. Vast coastal areas are going to be inundated.
A second change is that the world has gone from being interconnected to being interdependent. In such a world the failure of your “rival” is even more serious than its success. We really cannot indulge in tit-for-tat animosities.