From Sunday’s Meet the Press, a disturbing notion from an experienced voice that authoritarianism could be gaining credibility while our American model is losing it:

NBC War Correspondent Richard Engel: [America’s ability to have influence in the rest of the world is] greatly diminished. I think the Chinese model is one that appeals more and more in the developing world. People see that an authoritarian state can hold onto power, can hold on to stability and can drive the economy forward. When you look at– when you talk to people in– in– in Africa and across the Middle East, they’re not satisfied with the way things are going. Sure this idea of democracy was injected into the region, but it has brought mostly chaos. So, I think the U.S. role, the U.S. example, is not the one that is on the– on the mind of the youth internationally. People are looking more to — to different kinds of models.