America’s foreign policy establishment is at war with itself over the shape of the country’s approach toward a steadily rising China. For now, it is only an epistolary war. But as the debate deepens, its outcome will go far toward deciding how the United States responds to its most serious global rival for economic and geopolitical power for decades ahead.

Among a slew of recent op-eds and policy papers about how Washington should manage the perceived challenge that China represents, two statements stand out as poles in the debate and, as such, deserve extended consideration.

Find out what they are when you download U.S.-China Rivalry in the Trump Era for FREE today, and discover how U.S. policy toward China could prevent strategic competition from devolving into unconstrained hostility.

Why a Cold War between China and the United States would be so costly

When you download U.S.-China Rivalry in the Trump Era for FREE today, you’ll read about how Trump’s China policy has confounded observers, as it has lurched chaotically from provocation to engagement and back again.

If the U.S.-China trade war develops into a broader cold war, as some observers fear, it will be nothing like the actual Cold War. Between civil war in Russia after World War I, the Great Depression in the United States and then the cataclysm of World War II, America and the Soviet Union never had a chance to develop a significant economic relationship before things hardened into a stark East-West divide. When Washington adopted a containment strategy that blocked most trade with the Soviets, including technology transfers, it had relatively little impact on either economy.

The situation with China today is radically different.Learn more when you download this indispensable resource on U.S.-China relations.

Why WPR can help you better understand the U.S.-China relations

World Politics Review is produced by a vast network of leading experts and influential observers on the ground; our substantive content gives you access to comprehensive and detailed perspectives that are as valuable as they are unique and rare.

Though strictly nonpartisan with regard to political affiliation or allegiance, WPR relies on a reality-based approach that recognizes the need for all the tools and instruments of statecraft—with a preference for diplomacy and multilateralism in support ofa rules- and norms-based global order.

WPR’s mission is simple—we’re committed to integrity, quality, and the principles of an intellectually honest press whose exclusive purpose is to inform and educate its readers.

WPR offers an incisive mix of substantive policy analysis and politically relevant commentary. It is one of the few outlets which is able to provide both types of writing in an incisive and engaging manner.”

– Steven Feldstein

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy,Human Rights and Labor, U.S. State Department

“WPR provides piercing analysis, fresh perspectives and timely reporting on issues of immense importance to academics and practitioners alike.”

– Iyad Dakka
Fellow, Modern Turkish Studies Initiative, Carleton University

Learn how China’s naval buildup is a real challenge to the U.S. Navy’s dominance.

United States Navy struggles to figure out if, how and when it can expand the size of its combat fleet by 47 ships—a 15 percent increase—China continues to crank out around a dozen new large warships a year. In May, the busy shipyard in the port city Dalian put to sea China’s second aircraft carrier, following up on that milestone two months later by simultaneously launching two Type 055-class cruisers. With the U.S. Navy being the only other fleet to operate a large number of vessels of such size and capability, the pace and scale of production at Chinese shipyards is a sign of Beijing’s desire for a fleet commensurate with its perceived status as a great power.

Displacing more than 10,000 tons, the Type 055-class cruisers are large, multirole warships similar to the U.S. Navy’s high-end Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Such warships constitute the backbone of navies focused on high-intensity naval combat. Even a decade ago, the Chinese navy had only a handful of ships capable of providing a broad range of naval combat capabilities over a large area. Until the early 2000s, most Chinese warships were incapable of even targeting hostile aircraft more than a dozen or so kilometers away. Without such vessels, combat success in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait was well out of reach, even against adversaries far less capable than the U.S. Navy. Find out how China could challenge the U.S. Navy, and what could be done to head off a naval arms race, when you download U.S.-China Rivalry in the Trump Era for FREE today.

Editor’s Note: This report was first published in November 2018 and was last updated in August 2019.