A war between China and the US would be catastrophic, deadly, and destructive. Unfortunately, it is no longer unthinkable. The relationship between the US and China, the world's two superpowers, is peculiarly volatile. It rests on a seismic fault--of cultural misunderstanding, historical grievance, and ideological incompatibility. No other nations are so quick to offend and be offended. Their militaries play a dangerous game of chicken, corporations steal intellectual property, intelligence satellites peer, and AI technicians plot. The capacity for either country to cross a fatal line grows daily.

Includes index.

A short history of the US-China relationship --The problem of distrust -- Understanding Xi Jinping's worldview : ten concentric circles of interest -- The first circle : the politics of staying in power -- The second circle : securing national unity -- The third circle : ensuring economic prosperity -- The fourth circle : making economic development environmentally sustainable -- The fifth circle : modernizing the military -- The sixth circle : managing China's neighborhood -- The seventh circle : securing China's maritime periphery — the Western Pacific, the Indo-Pacific, and the Quad -- The eighth circle : going west — the Belt and Road Initiative -- The ninth circle : increasing Chinese leverage across Europe, Africa, and Latin American and gaining and Arctic foothold -- The tenth circle : changing the global rules-based order -- America's emerging strategic response to Xi Jinping's China -- Xi Jinping's China in the 2020s : the politics of the Twentieth Party Congress -- The decade of living dangerously : alternative futures for US-China relations -- Navigating an uncertain future : the case for managed strategic competition.