While the Middle East occupies center stage at the moment in the American conscience as it relates to foreign policy, it is our relationship with China that will determine the 21st Century.  Of course, really, that relationship will impact everything.  From economic to military policy.  It will impact our relations with Europe and, especially, with everyone in Asia from India to Japan to Australia and the Koreas. 

This article is a compendium of both American and Chinese academics looking at where things are likely to go in this pivotal relationship.  Below is the introduction.

In the essays that follow, a number of thematic threads emerged. Many struggle with the meaning of China’s growing economic power matched by its military build-up. Would China be friend, foe or both? Others dismiss talk of China’s ascendance in the world as ultimately subordinate to its domestic challenges. “Internal contradictions” are a prevailing theme, particularly among our Chinese authors. Still others attempt to sketch out what a unique worldview China might offer in the decades ahead. If any consensus is discernible, it can best be characterized as a deep uncertainty about where China is headed, how it will get there and the effect it will have on others anditself along the way.

These short essays would otherwise comprise another variant of “China’s rising,” however, a subtle but important shift has taken place in the discourse. Implicit in most of these think pieces is the assumption that, at least in relative terms, China’s rise is a fait accompli. Even five years ago, China’s rise was spoken of as a work in progress. Now, its ascendance, in an economic sense, has reached a certain plateau. Even among those who emphasize the salience of China’s internal contradictions as the key to its future, no one disagrees that those domestic issues themselves are a result of China’s impressive level of progress.