Breaking Points: China, Iran, and the New Multipolar Power Struggle

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
When empires wobble, the language of power changes before the map does. In a recent Breaking Points conversation, Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti sat down with Daniel Bessner to unpack China, Iran, and the unraveling of the old global order. And Bessner introduces this fascinating framework he calls "imperialist realism."
Right, and what's striking about that concept is how he describes the American mindset today. He says Americans still feel compelled to act like an empire, but no longer believe that empire can be transformed or cleaned up. There's this great line where he puts it: "It is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of the American Empire." That's a chilling observation. And he traces that mindset back to the 1990s, doesn't he? When U.S. leaders talked as if America had a special license to run the world? Exactly. Then came the failures of the Global War on Terror, the decline of mass politics, and this deep cynicism about power. The result is a country that acts globally while doubting its own legitimacy.
Building on that point, Bessner turns to the larger shift toward multipolarity. The United States emerged from World War II with immense industrial and atomic dominance, then enjoyed what Charles Krauthammer called the "unipolar moment."
But Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Great Recession weakened that position significantly. Meanwhile, China and Russia reemerged as major powers. And that context makes current headlines about Iran especially important, right?
Absolutely. The episode notes reports that Iran may receive Chinese shoulder-launched missile systems, which is a reminder that Cold War-style proxy dynamics are back in new form. For Bessner, this isn't an anomaly, but part of a world where great powers are adapting to each other. What's also fascinating is the conversation about the fading language of the liberal international order. Bessner says U.S. foreign policy used to be sold through democracy and human rights, even when reality fell short. Now, even the war in Ukraine is framed mostly in terms of interests, not ideals. And that shift is happening across China and Russia as well. But here's the key question: does this make the world safer? Bessner argues it doesn't. An American elite committed to permanent primacy could actually make conflict more likely, not less. The final part turns to technology and war. Bessner warns that artificial intelligence, inside a capitalist system, is being used to destroy labor and accelerate financial speculation rather than produce real progress. He also says AI could worsen targeting errors and spark arms races.
And drone warfare may be the clearest sign that the battlefield is changing faster than the foreign policy establishment. The old assumption that overseas bases and static power can preserve control no longer fits the moment. If leaders don't adjust to that reality, Bessner warns, the result could be unnecessary and avoidable violence.