Brian's constant unchanging theme is that the US planned what is happening globally several decades ago, ie challenge China's growing industrial dominance by starving it of oil. This strategy harks back to the Clean Break option of destroying 7 countries in 5 years, and, according to Brian, the plan is working to the letter.

In direct contrast, in this version we have the US stumbling from one catastrophe to another, engaged in proxy wars that threaten not only the US economy but leading to global depression. With Trump we have a president with no clue what he's doing and unable to extricate himself from his own stupid and disastrous decisions.

So either the US is following a cunning masterplan to stay top dog and beat the Russians and the Chinese (according to Brian) and is succeeding even when we think it's failing, or the empire is blundering about blindly and on the verge of collapse.

Is it possible that both scenarios could be partially true?