I still feel nervous about a regional nuclear war* between you and Pakistan or a land war with China, particularly as the region dries out.

Neither will happen. Both our politicians and Pakistani generals love sabre-rattling. Both also love their wealth and status too much to do anything stupid. And while China can really hurt us in a potential war, they can do at least as much damage by stopping exports to us.

My background is US.

Ah yes, self-titled world's police.

your march towards authoritarianism worries me

Yeah, you may want to rethink that one given how the US acts.

Yeah, I poke fun at your comment, but I mostly want to push back on this idea of "authoritarianism." So here comes a bit of a rant, but hopefully a compelling one. The problem with authority isn't that it exists or that it is used, but who holds that authority, how it is used, and who benefits from how it is used.

Leadership stems from authority. Parenting stems from authority. Social contracts are upheld through their authority. Saying "no" is using a personal form of authority. The bartender cutting me off is an authoritarian act! You know what else is authoritarian? "Bringing democracy" to another country. (Seriously, how is that in any way democratic?)

Authority is just an active extension of power. Both authority and power are neutral. They aren't inherently good or bad, but they can be used for either. Good and bad themselves are mostly a matter of perspective, who do they affect and how are what we care about. How are people affected by authority, how that power is used, and who are affected by it are a few of the aspects that help shape what we view as good or bad use of authority.

So if whether authority and power are good or bad is dependent on how they are used, then it matters a whole lot who has that power and what their interests are. Do they share their interests with you? Do they share them with most people? Are they using that power to mainly benefit themselves or to benefit others?

I would say that it doesn't matter that power and authority exist and are used, they are a part of existence. Who has that power and their interests are what actually matter. Authoritarianism is an empty concept, lacking any real substance. Every decision you make is authoritarian. Upholding social contracts is authoritarian. Staging revolutions and quashing them are both authoritarian. ALL governments are authoritarian otherwise we could do whatever we wanted!

You live in the US, can you walk into a grocery store and a small amount of food because you need it? No, because it against the law. You must use US dollars. Can you go pay in a foreign currency or trade in other goods? No, unless the owners of the store forbid it. Can you diddle or traffick kids for other people to abuse? No, US laws forbids it (but they'll excuse it if you're rich enough, because money grants power). Can you walk into Congress or any business and use your authority to make them operate exactly as you want? No, you don't have that power.

Instead of focusing on the empty word, authoritarian, a word that is essentially, and often baselessly, used to mean "evil thing we don't agree with," we should instead be looking at who holds the power that lends that authority, what are the interests of those with power and whether those interests align with ours.

You don't like a government because it leans too far from your interests? That's a good reason not to like them. That's a good reason to go authoritarian on their asses. You don't like a government just because they use their authority? That's hypocritical. You use your authority all the time and may even do so to overthrow them...if you had the power.