re: Pentagon warns China is an even bigger threat than we thought

That has nothing to do with their centralization efforts in Central Asia. They are planning to spend upwards of 4 to 8 trillion more dollars in projects around Asia and Africa in addition to the 4 trillion they've already spent. They will buy their sphere of influence, and can invest abroad without angering their base, because they aren't beholden to them.

Becoming more free market still doesn't mean we have cogent foreign policy goals. The Wolfowitz Doctrine and the Bush Doctrine determined our policy for a long time, and it was broadly a failure, as was the Obama Doctrine, which was heavily inspired by a Bush appointee Brent Sowcroft.