  If life was a bit more like baseball things might be clearer in the world right now. Do we give a relief pitcher credit for a win when all he does is come in for one inning at the end of the game and preserve the lead?
No, he gets credit for a save. That is all. So why does Ronald Reagan get credit for destroying the Soviet Union and the falling of the Berlin Wall. Because he was there at the time? Because he was the goto guy in the last inning? The US democratic capitalist system was a way more effective wealth generator than the communist system in the USSR.
It was the reason the Soviets could not compete with us. Not Reagan & Gorbachev simple relief pitchers who were simply at the mercy of history playing itself out. Future threats to the US will face the same large fundamental challenge. As China now embraces capitalist workings it remains to be seen whether the political system can adapt peacefully to these changes. As the industrial revolution there proceeds it will be interesting to see how it will handle the inevitable workers rights movements that we witnessed here in America. 
