By examining the systemic contradictions of present day capitalism, Giovanni Arrighi came up with a provocative hypothesis, namely no state could became globally hegemonic after the demise of the hegemony of the US, thus the further operation of global capitalism can be questioned. However, he later he forecast that China will be the next hegemonic power. The profound analysis economic, geostrategic and ecological factors suggest that Arrighi was over optimistic concerning China as its way to hegemony is full of barriers, similarly to the huge obstacles in the way of capitalism to long term existence.