Stop the Spiral: The US Must Choose Cooperation Over Conflict with China
The year is 2025, and the world is on edge. The economic war between the US and China—with crippling 145% tariffs on cars and chips—is fueling terrifying talk of a real military clash. This is the classic Thucydides Trap: the existing power (the US) panicking about the rising power (China). For the sake of global prosperity, it’s time for the US to drop its aggressive, dominant posture and accept a more stable, shared world.
The Steep Cost of US Global Dominance 💸
For decades, the US has operated as the world’s sole superpower, maintaining a vast network of 800 military bases and spending $900 billion annually on defense. Since 1945, the US has intervened in over 200 conflicts. While some actions, like those in the Balkans, saved lives, the overall ledger is disastrous: 7 million deaths and $8 trillion spent, often resulting in chaos, as seen in the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As former President Jimmy Carter once put it, the US has been the “most warlike nation” in history. This aggressive stance, driven by a desire to maintain total dominance, is what truly fuels instability today. The US’s current strategy of “encirclement” and alliances like AUKUS doesn’t secure the peace; it only pushes the conflict closer to a breaking point over places like Taiwan.
China’s Different Path to Power 🛣️
In contrast, China’s rise has followed a noticeably different, more restrained path. Since 1949, China has fought in only four wars, with the last one in 1979—compared to the US’s dozens of post-Cold War actions. Today, China’s focus is on economic influence: lifting 800 million people out of poverty and driving massive infrastructure projects through its Belt and Road Initiative.
If you measure peace, the difference is stark. The Global Peace Index actually ranks the US (128th) as significantly less peaceful than China (98th). Furthermore, China’s diplomacy, centered on UN peacekeeping and multilateral forums, shows a clear effort to erode US unipolarity through economic and political means, not military ones. The global South, in particular, increasingly sees China as a favored partner.
Choose Partnership, Not Peril 🤝
Our current path of rivalry—marked by economic sanctions and military posturing—is stifling growth and pushing us toward a war that no one wants. Economic friction alone threatens to destabilize $600 billion in trade and cut global GDP growth by 2–3%.
The only logical way forward is to abandon the fantasy of permanent US hegemony. The world is moving toward multipolarity—a system where several major powers coexist.
The US must drop its aggressive posture and embrace a simple doctrine: dialogue and non-interference. Instead of strategic compression, we need strategic cooperation. We need win-win partnerships on critical issues like climate change and establishing rules for stable trade.