With the USA’s policy of China containment in mind, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping advised President Donald Trump that their countries should not fall into Thucydides’ trap by viewing each other as rivals for strategic superiority. Instead, they should strive cooperatively to bolster peace and security in the world. The Chinese leader subtly tried to assuage the concerns of the USA leadership.

The USA’s recent foreign and security policy decisions have been directed at containing China’s political, economic and strategic ascendancy. Its bilateral relations were calibrated by the ‘China containment’ policy. The competition and confrontation between the two countries, though short of a new Cold War, have been compelling many regional countries to review their foreign policy portfolios in line with the changing signals from Washington, DC and Beijing. At times, the heightened obsession with China has overshadowed American domestic politics, distracted Washington’s focus from international issues, and weakened its grip on world affairs.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The collapse of the Soviet Union made the USA the absolute world power. With the disappearance of the countervailing weight of the USSR, the USA became the sole superpower and the world leader. Instead of assuming the role of a good guardian of democracy, human rights, peace and security based on international law and conventions, the USA continued its reckless policy of involvement in military excursions in far-off lands, adopted soon after the Second World War, causing massive destruction and countless deaths while spending huge amounts.

Ironically, the USA has always abruptly ended its involvement in such wars and left the........

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