Here a historical analogy is  Only a decade ago, after all, America was frantic about another mysterious, ominous Asian power that was not quite friend, not quite enemy.
American was never worried about unfriendly Asian powers.  
mnli hypothesis: American was never worried about unfriendly Asian powers.   premise: Here a historical analogy is  Only a decade ago, after all, America was frantic about another mysterious, ominous Asian power that was not quite friend, not quite enemy.