Hindsight 2020: The year the American myth was debunked

Outgoing President Donald Trump (left) and President-elect Joe Biden (right) at the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct 22. (Photos by Brendan Smialowski and JIM WATSON/ AFP)

There is a series of vignettes towards the climax of the 1996 Roland Emmerich movie, Independence Day (ID4), when the Americans kick off a global effort to turn back the alien invasion by rallying their allies. In a desert somewhere, RAF pilots get a message on radio.

"The Americans are planning a counter-strike!" says the radio guy.