It has become axiomatic to contend that U.S. foreign policy must adapt to an era of renewed “great-power competition.” The United States went on a quarter-century strategic detour after the Cold War, the argument goes, basking in triumphalism and getting bogged down in the Middle East. Now China and Russia are increasingly challenging its influence and undercutting the order it has led since 1945. How should it respond to these two formidable authoritarian powers? In this timely intervention, Ali Wyne offers the first detailed critique of great-power competition as a foreign policy framework, warning that it could render the United States defensive and reactive. He exhorts Washington to find a middle ground between complacence and consternation, selectively contesting Beijing and Moscow but not allowing their decisions to determine its own course. Analyzing a resurgent China, a disruptive Russia, and a deepening Sino-Russian entente, Wyne explains how the United States can seize the "great-power opportunity" at hand: to manage all three of those phenomena confidently while renewing itself at home and abroad.

A leading historian's guide to great-power competition, as told through America's successes and failures in the Cold War The United States is entering an era of long-term great-power competition with China and Russia. Such global struggles happen at a geopolitical twilight, between the sunshine of peace and the darkness of war. In this innovative and illuminating book, Hal Brands, a leading historian and former Pentagon adviser, argues that America should look to the history of the Cold War for lessons in how to succeed in great-power rivalry today. Although dangerous authoritarian powers are challenging U.S. influence, America's muscle memory for dealing with powerful foes has atrophied in the thirty years since the Cold War ended. In long-term competitions where the diplomatic jockeying is intense and the threat of violence is omnipresent, the United States will need all the historical insight it can get. Exploring how America won a previous twilight struggle is the starting point for determining how America can master another persistent high-stakes rivalry today.

Looks at the clash between gas/oil proponents and supports of alternative energies and offers a plan for the future that combines the best of both worlds.

Over the past decade, the international political system has come to be characterized as a Great Power Competition in which multiple would-be hegemons compete for power and influence. Instead of a global climate of unchallenged United States dominance, revisionist powers, notably China and Russia alongside other regional powers, are vying for dominance through political, military, and economic means. A critical battleground in the Great Power Competition is the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and the Central Asia South Asia (CASA), also known as the Central Region. With the planned withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, the U.S. has stated its intention of shifting attention away from the CASA Region in favor of a more isolationist foreign policy approach. This book provides an in-depth understanding of the implications for this shift related to regional diplomacy & politics, economic opportunities & rivalries, security considerations & interests, and the information environment. Amplifying the vital importance of success in the Central Region to U.S. prosperity and security, this volume advances dialogue in identifying key issues for stakeholders within and beyond the Central Region to gain a holistic perspective that better informs decision-making at various levels. This collection of work comes from scholars, strategic thinkers, and subject matter experts who participated in the Great Power Competition Conference hosted by the University of South Florida, in partnership with the National Defense University Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Strategies in January 2020.

Independence, 1765-1788 -- In the shadow of the French Revolution, 1788-1815 -- The continental republic, 1815-1865 -- Great-power debut, 1865-1914 -- The offshore balancer, 1914-1933 -- The arsenal of democracy, 1933-1945 -- The contest of systems, 1945-1953 -- War improbable, peace impossible -- A superpower dies in bed -- The new world order, 1990-2001 -- Back to the future, 2001-2015.

This open access book consists of essays selected from Joseph S. Nye, Jr.’s last three decades of writing and illustrate a variety of perspectives on the nature of power, the role of the United States in the world and US-China relations. Through this collection, it is hoped that readers will gain a better understanding of today’s global environment and find that while great power competition may be inevitable in a world as centers of power shift, cooperating to address transnational challenges can be a positive sum game. The contents of this book are divided into four main parts. Part One discusses the origins and political progress of the concept of “Soft Power”. Part Two explores soft power in the American experience, its sources and interaction with US foreign policy, as well as its ebb and flow in the age of Obama, Trump and Biden. Part Three examines the rise of and the opportunities and difficulties for Chinese soft power, focusing on China’s investment in soft power and how this demonstrates its commitment to a peaceful rise. However, it also addresses the question of how can China get “smart” on how it uses soft power. Part Four provides a bird’s-eye view of power shifts in the 21st century and the interactions between the US as an established power and China as a rising power, while also reassuring readers that Thucydidean fears are unnecessary and a Cold War is avoidable. Both countries have to realize that some forms of power must be exercised with others, not over others, the development of soft power need not be a zero-sum game. Ultimately, the US-China relationship is a “cooperative rivalry” where a successful strategy of “smart competition” is necessary and cooperation on transnational challenges like climate change, pandemics, cyberterrorism and nuclear proliferation, will serve to benefit not only China and the US, but the world as a whole.

The American Search for Opportunity, 1865-1913 analyzes the period between the American Civil War and World War I (1865-1913) as the formative basis for twentieth-century American world power--"The American Century" as it has become known--and examines the "Imperial Presidency" that these roots produced. The extent of U.S. power was so great that it not only transformed American society, but reshaped other societies around the globe as well, by helping fuel--and in some cases directly causing--the great revolutions of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries in Mexico, Russia, China, Cuba, Hawaii, the Philippines, Panama, and Central America. The book, therefore, not only examines American history, but the history of many other areas that were dramatically affected by U.S. power as they entered the twentieth century.