Economic supremacy is not key to U.S. power—maintaining international strength based on innovation and economics is unstable—Ritual solves better

Xun Zi also believed that political power is more effective than economic power in the event of diplomatic confrontations. Using wealth to buy other countries’ support, he says, is pointless; the most effective way of strengthening the state is through moral and ethic principles. He says: ‘If I attempt to serve the state by using valuable and precious goods, then these costly objects will be depleted, yet friendly relations will not be secured. If I trust in treaties and solemnly swear to covenants, then although the terms of the agreement are firmly settled, they will be overturned without a single day elapsing. If I cede territory bit by bit, then although the amount to be ceded has been settled, the desire will not be satiated. The more I acquiesce to their demands, the more they will encroach, the inevitable end being that at the depletion of my resources, they will not stop until they have taken the whole country. ... Thus, the intelligent ruler does not proceed along this path. He invariably cultivates ritual principles in order to arrange the court in an orderly fashion, rectifies the laws in order to make the governmental bureau uniformly arranged, and adjusts the operating of the government in order to handle the people uniformly. It is only after this has been done that emergencies and reports are uniformly disposed of by the court, the various tasks and duties uniformly handled by the bureaus, and the multitude of commoners uniformly handled by their subordinates, ...In such a situation, those who are nearby zealously try to become close to the ruler and those who are in distant regions long to reach him. The ruler and his subjects will be of one mind, and the three armies will make a common effort. When his fame and reputation are sufficient to sear and scorch them and his majesty and strength enough to thrash and flog them, he simply folds his hands before his breast in salute and signals with his finger. Then not one of the strong and aggressive states will fail to come in haste to serve him. The situation would be like the case of Wuhuo, the Crow Catcher (a big and powerful fellow), battling the Jiao Pygmies (a small and short guy).’19 Xun Zi’s wisdom is again demonstrated in the cases of Japan in 2005 and China in 1971. Japan, in an attempt to obtain permanent membership in the UN Security Council, invested US $16 billion in developing countries in 2005 as a means of buying their support. It, however, failed.20 The United States in 1971, a time when American foreign aid to the Third World was much higher than that from China, opposed Beijing’s application for UN membership. With the support of African countries, however, Beijing successfully restored its UN membership. These two historical events prove Xun Zi’s theory that political power is more important than economic power in global diplomatic affairs.