Well, you could be right, Narad.
However, your "logic" is only sound if your assumptions are valid. Do you think Gorbachev would've chosen the course he took, and more importantly, the Soviet Army would've sided with Yeltsin had they been able to foresee how things were to unfold?
Hindsight to predict the "end of history" was 20/20. The prevalent Russian view, however, was that the Soviet Union did not die of homicide, but rather from "suicide". They "imploded" only because they
wanted to.
They
thought they had enough and maybe they did.
Will the PRC feel the same way in due time? Or will they dig in and "fight for wrath, for ruin, and the red dawn?" We all live only once and life is finite to begin with. Will a country view things through the same nihilistic lens?
I don't have any answers but you seem to have it all figured out.
Well good luck in Mumbai.