Another possible future scenario for Chinese development is quite different. China faces both internal and external obstacles to this potential sustained economic ascent. Domestically, the huge social and political costs of moving from the model of autarky and guaranteed employment to global competitiveness are creating economic and political problems that will be difficult to resolve. Rising unemployment, growing rural-urban and geographic inequality, and decreasing political legitimacy of the Communist Party all threaten to create social disorder and even the breakdown of the Chinese political system.