Is democracy about periodically displacing absolute power by force or about laying the foundations for its peaceful rotation, including mechanisms not only for transparency in governance but also for the protection of women and religious minorities?
China does not speak publicly of displacing American power in Asia.
It remains to be seen whether such scattered mutinies can displace the power of old elites that derived their legitimacy and power from their self-appointed role as technocratic modernizers, and have deepened their links in recent years with transnational corporations and international organizations.
The corporate world, in general, has become so powerful, and to some degree, has displaced governmental power in a way that is unprecedented.
China's Three Gorges Dam project is probably a carbon-footprint winner, because it's in a temperate climate and displaces the power of 20 coal-fired plants.
"Enough hamsters running on a wheel could displace a power plant, but no one's going to do it, because it's too expensive," he says.
However, what is neglected in this vision is that the deployment of intermittent renewable energy tends to displace thermal power generation.
The reason is that the low gas price leads to an increase in power generation by gas turbines, displacing coal-fired power generation and reducing carbon emissions.
Coal, despised as the dirtiest fossil fuel, underwent an unexpected renaissance, notably in Europe, displacing gas in power generation.
But the unexpected move is also seen as another attempt by an increasingly assertive China to establish itself as the dominant regional power, displacing the United States.
