WASHINGTON: The rise of India and China does not mean that the US, which is currently experiencing a "tectonic" shift in its economy, is entering an era of decline, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said. "Our society and economy are in the midst of a tectonic shift from an industrial -- to an information-based order.

 Globalization is creating unprecedented opportunities, but we Americans still do not feel that they are sharing in them," Rice said at a Women's Foreign Policy Group Annual Luncheon. "All of this is contributing to a sense of uncertainty, a concern that changes in developments abroad might not be helping us here at home.

This is even leading some to speculate that we are entering an era of American decline." Rice said: "This mood of decline hangs over some of those articles and news reports that we see daily about the rise of others: China, of India, the coming of a so-called Asian Century.

We are to believe that American has had a good run, but maybe it's all downhill from here. Well, I don't believe that at all. I'm optimistic about America's future." She said as the international system is showing a degree of unprecedented transformation, American policy would have to show a mixture of pragmatism, idealism and realism.

"Our ability to adapt to change and rise to challenges is strong. And our desire to get in the game and not sit on the sidelines has always been our national disposition.

It is our way of thinking about the world that we look to the future with hope, not with fear, as something that we will shape, not submit to," Rice added. "The international system today is experiencing a degree of transformation that defies precedent.

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