About this lecture series
Lectures of Opportunity (LOOs) offer Naval War College (NWC) students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to learn more about national and international socio-political subjects that may be of relevance to the NWC community.
Synopsis
The United States has been the world’s dominant power for more than a century. Now, many analysts believe China is taking its place. Is China an emerging superpower? Should the United States gear up for a new cold war in Asia? This lecture will show that China actually lags far behind the United States by the most important measures of national wealth and power—and will probably fall further behind in the coming decades. The most likely threat to American security, therefore, is not a confident Chinese peer competitor, but a stagnating, insecure China that lashes out after failing to live up to the global hype about its rise. The presentation will discuss how the United States can contain this threat without starting a cold or hot war with Beijing.