The West is in decline, going back to its normal position in the world, after a five-hundred year hiatus in the world's history where the West has been the important Top-Dog.<p>Though I suppose it's more accurate to say, that Asia is regaining it's normal place in the world, where both China and India are the world's power-houses and have been for thousands of years. (Except for that slight hiatus that I mentioned above.)<p>As Westerners, we have been taught to believe that the temporary West-is-Top-Dog situation is the 'normal' one, not the other Asia-is-Top-Dog one which is actually the normal case.