U.S. Needs A Grand Strategy in Its Relationship with China

U.S. Needs A Grand Strategy not Grand Standing in its relationship with China. An op-ed I co-authored for the Australian with an old friend from Oxford, Brant Moscovitch.

Romney’s longstanding efforts to paint himselfas someone willing to ‘‘stand up to China’’ exemplifies an alarming trend of China-bashing in US politics.

It is understandable that US politicians of all stripes vie to be seen as the one most capable of clipping the wings of their
country’s pre-eminent challenger. Yet such grandstanding must not be confused with long-term strategic thinking.

Dean Acheson once famously quipped following World War II that Britain had ‘‘lost an empire, and has not yet found a role’’. In retrospect, the US has lacked a sense of its role in the world since 1991.