Is to purge the democrats from office, and simultaneously seize control of the republicans. From there, instead of impoverishing the nation, they could give them free reign internally, but sell "peace at last" as a political policy through the GOP. By turning america inward, and having the CCPs puppets advocate isolationism, they could successfully exploit america's debt and war fatigue. We'd be so busy "bringing back american manufacturing" and working 12 hours a day rebuilding our infrastructure (sans military), it would be perceived as an american rival. And the CCP would be given an opportunity to spread on the world stage without being hindered by american policy any more. When world economies are entering feudal modes, the nation that affects the most *social freedom* gains control internationally (the u.s. briefly). When the world is in a colonization phase, the power that affects the greatest *economic freedom or mobility* (choice, living standard, etc) gains power. (the u.s. for the last sixty years). The world economy is entering a feudal mode, so the *largest* demand will be social freedom. In fact, this is the very reason china is seeing pushback against its regime in the CCP. A false internal collapse, would allow easy restructuring, losing the bad world image, and making china an **instant** beacon of hope as the u.s. **loses its own status as symbol of freedom and prosperity**. Those two words are key: Freedom and Prosperity. The world swings between nascent low-investment periods (freedom) and high-flying periods of investment and economic growth (prosperity). In fact, if you look at old feudalism, the people of the time, worked *less*, had **far less interference** in their lives on average than today around the world, and were even **taxed less**. Yes really. Part of this 'freedom' was **because** they were dirt poor. They didn't have a lot to lose, so too much interference would have resulted in constant riots, loss of productivity (in an already low production environment). So, wherever people are comfortable and have lots to look forward to, there is less of demand for freedoms, and people are less likely to take risks against their rulers for fear of losing it all. Likewise, when they have very little, their rulers leave them alone out of the understanding that people with not much to lose are easily agitated to action. The world is changing from a prosperous "colonization" mode to a feudal "freedom" mode. Whichever world power provides the most freedom will take Americas place as a superpower for the next 100-200 years. If I were running the CCP, again, I would restructure it, the way the soviet union faked a collapse, focus on freedom, co-opt the right in america, do away with the vestigial left in the united states, and switch the u.s. to a mix of agrarianism/manufacturing and an isolationist foreign policy. Also I would get rid of the blacks and the intelligence agencies. They would only serve to agitate the americans against foreign rulers.