That is not what Rudd meant, i think you have major comprehension problems, what he meant is China will be a major economic force in the future, this is inevitable as it restructures it economy and empowers hundreds of millions more consumers in the coming decades, but other power centers will rise around the world, Saudi Arabia and the middle east is getting more and more independent from America policies and getting very ambitious, Turkey is getting very ambitious, Russia is in revival mode, India, Iran, Pakistan, Brazil, South Africa etc will be powerhouses in their own rights in the future, it is American influence that is decreasing, slowly but surely, this is inevitable, the world is heading towards multipolarity, that is what he meant, 10 years ago America spend more on their military than the next 20 countries combined, today it's about 10, in 2020 it will be 5, not only American military advantage is decreasing in spending but other countries have develop counterweight that could hurt them immensely, it's economic advantages have diminished as well, it's inevitable, and just as countries are finding cheaper alternatives to ensure their own national security, America has bankrupted itself on 2 losing wars, and a gross irresponsibility in it's status as the world reserve holder and it's abuse of power as world policeman, the share of reserve holdings in dollars will decrease as well, as other countries hold more reserves of other currencies, these are inevitable trends, nothing America can do to reverse it. They sure as hell cannot reverse it by militarily attacking Iran for example, it will just speed up their collapse and turn a slow graceful decline into their worst nightmare. China is not going to rule the world this century, America sure as hell cannot either.