>Probably not. But if push comes to shove, the Americans and the Brits are Tibetan's best hope.

Ergo, hopeless.

Imagine a scenario where the U(S & K) start sabre rattling on PRC. The trade would immediately suffer. The Chinese would be able to hold out much longer, them being just quarter of a generation out of poverty; they still know how to manage.

The US, however, is at least two generations pampered. And with current economy relying on minimal warehousing, there'd be a stampede on shops. There'd be shortages on virtually everything within a couple of weeks, from underwear to hardware. Nobody's stockpiling anything, because of the cost. Federal reserves have a limited capacity.

For that reason, there's no way any U(S + K) governments would do more than wag a finger at PRC. They just have too many hands in each other's pockets. There's too much economic interest in getting even deeper; anything threatening to disrupt that process has very low chances of occuring.

Half the history is the answer to "where is the money". The other half is "who would do what to get it".