The financial crisis that hit western economies in 2008 severely seems to have turned all such western assumptions upside down. The economic crisis in 2008 has not only weakened the specter of the EU to become a global power, both in economic and normative senses, but also made it abundantly clear that the success of the American economic model has been to a significant extent tied to the interdependent economic relations developed with the non-western world, most notably China. The crisis and its aftermath have made it unavoidably clear that the United States is today the most indebted country on earth whereas China the number one creditor country. Besides, majorities across the globe seem to believe that China, the aspiring hegemon, is on the rise whereas the United States, the incumbent hegemon, in terminal decline.