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The US and China can avoid a collision course – if the US gives up its empire

John Glaser

The problem isn’t China’s rise, but rather America’s insistence on maintaining military and economic dominance right in China’s backyard

China sees the US as one of its biggest threats. But there are steps America can take to avoid conflict.

Thursday 28 May 2015 | The Guardian | http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/28/conflict-us-china-not-inevitable-empire

To avoid a violent militaristic clash with China, or another cold war rivalry, the United States should pursue a simple solution: give up its empire.
Americans fear that China’s rapid economic growth will slowly translate into a more expansive and assertive foreign policy that will inevitably result in a war with the US. Harvard Professor Graham Allison has found: “in 12 of 16 cases in the past 500 years when a rising power challenged a ruling power, the outcome was war.” Chicago University scholar John Mearsheimer has bluntly argued: “China cannot rise peacefully.”http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/28/conflict-us-china-not-inevitable-empire