China is happy to just move into the sphere of influence Trump has vacated. His strategy only works if China plays ball to form a new colonially divided world, but they are probably way too smart to walk into that trap.

Just watching the US push their closest allies and trade partners into their arms is worth more than any “picking off” hillbilly states would do.

China is already owning the USA. Live fire drills off the coast of Australia just to test the waters. Zero response from America. What allies ?

The world is watching and the USA is failing. It won’t be long.

How would city-states work in the age of nukes? It will lead to nothing but predation (see Mortal Engines for a YA take, what I'd give to watch the City of New York pursuing Roanoke or Asheville across the plains from atop the Chrysler building)

I don't see how these "tech titans" who understand economies of scale think scaling governments down is an improvement, so I suspect there is (self?) deception at play, and what they are optimizing for is minimizing oversight over their activities, and I suppose they see themselves as taking control of the cities and picking off the neighboring later... In this magical-thinking-land, Canada, Mexico, Russia and China will leave weakened city-states unmolested out of respect of the billionaires? The reasoning is juvenile and/or dishonest.