Characterizing a new type of major power relationship
US-Sino ties are the world’s most important bilateral relationship, a relationship where many of the world’s bilateral and multilateral relationships depend on and are contingent upon. And being such, it is no surprise that the world’s systemic configuration would in one way or another always be affected by how the US and China relate to each other. In an era of economic, technological, and cultural globalization, the ideal major power relationship is where war or conflict is absent. Because the old type of a power relationship, historically, is where great powers ended up fighting each other, especially when one power declines and another one rises. Incidentally, the rate of China’s rise is putting the US in a state of relative decline. And so, it is no surprise that President Xi Jinping broached the idea to President Obama that there should be a new type of major power relationship. The rationale is obvious --to give a heads up so that the tragic relations and mentalities of g...