It seems that a severe financial contraction could materially reduce China and Russia's totalitarian ambition. And as the urge for political reform is being threatened, loss of funding for deliberate mayhem could be in the "nick of time".
As they occurred in the senior economy, there has been three great experiments in authoritarian government that I've described as "Tyrannical Centuries". The first in turning totalitarian is well-documented as it economically and politically destroyed the magnificence of Rome. The Third Century has been described as a "Crisis Century", as well as "Military Anarchy".