> The situation you're imagining is one of a global all encompassing depression caused by a single government.

Doesn't even have to go that far (though it pretty easily can, the US is a big enough market). If the US causes a refugee crisis that affects one of China's allies, or fucks with the global oil supply enough or a thousand other things, that stuff is still annoying to China even if it's usually relatively better for them than it is for the US.

> Not unthinkable, but the Americans would feel that deeply. Do you think they want to?

The people in the US choosing do not care if the rest of America feels it or not.