A Glass Half Full?: Rebalance, Reassurance, and Resolve in the U.S.-China Strategic Relationship

by Michael E. O'Hanlon

How to stabilize the security relationship between Washington and Beijing.

The U.S.-China relationship has not always been smooth, but since Richard Nixon’s opening in the early 1970s, the two countries have evolved a relationship that has been generally beneficial to both parties. Economic engagement and a diplomatic partnership together with robust trade and investment relations, among other activities, have meant a peaceful context for reform and China’s rise, helping to lift millions of Chinese out of poverty and giving the PRC incentive to work within the U.S.-led global order.

The logic of the relationship, however, is now open to serious debate on both sides of the Pacific. After a period of American preoccupation with the Middle East, President Obama attempted a rebalancing of U.S. interests toward the Asia-Pacific region. With the Trump administration in office, the U.S.-China relationship appears to be at a does it continue to focus on constructive engagement and managing differences, or prepare for a new era of rivalry and conflict?

Here, following up on their 2014 book, Strategic Reassurance and Resolve , the authors provide a more balanced assessment of the current state of relations and suggest measures that could help stabilize the security relationship, without minimizing the very real problems that both Beijing and Washington must address. The authors are hopeful, but are also under no illusions about the significance of the challenges now posed to the bilateral relationship, as well as regional order, by the rise of China and the responses of America together with its allies.

102 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2017

Reviews

[NCHS Library]

From Follett: How to stabilize the security relationship between Washington and Beijing. The U.S.-China relationship has not always been smooth, but since Richard Nixon's opening in the early 1970s, the two countries have evolved a relationship that has been generally beneficial to both parties. Economic engagement and a diplomatic partnership together with robust trade and investment relations, among other activities, have meant a peaceful context for reform and China's rise, helping to lift millions of Chinese out of poverty and giving the PRC incentive to work within the U.S.-led global order. The logic of the relationship, however, is now open to serious debate on both sides of the Pacific. After a period of American preoccupation with the Middle East, President Obama attempted a rebalancing of U.S. interests toward the Asia-Pacific region. With the Trump administration in office, the U.S.-China relationship appears to be at a crossroads: does it continue to focus on constructive engagement and managing differences, or prepare for a new era of rivalry and conflict? Here, following up on their 2014 book, Strategic Reassurance and Resolve, the authors provide a more balanced assessment of the current state of relations and suggest measures that could help stabilize the security relationship, without minimizing the very real problems that both Beijing and Washington must address. The authors are hopeful, but are also under no illusions about the significance of the challenges now posed to the bilateral relationship, as well as regional order, by the rise of China and the responses of America together with its allies.

[Philip Stupak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good review for US-China policy practitioners. Other books on this topic give a far more detailed historical analysis that help explain the path leading us here. “A Glass Half Full?” assumes you already have that background, which is likely a correct assumption as the target audience would seem to be Congressional staffers and Administration officials looking for concrete steps to recommend.

As a whole this reminded me a lot of national security policy papers. This style is helpful, and quickly touches the salient points. Many organizations would be better off if they wrote like O’Hanlon and Steinberg.

If you’d like a quick primer on the state of US-China relations at the end of the Obama Presidency, then this is an excellent starter.

[Jim Bertsch]

Published in 2017 "Is the Glass Half Full?" is a brief introduction to the USA-Sino relationship. The major points of contention are highlighted. National security and the military are at the forefront of the conversation. Its 8 chapters take a wide swath of the diplomatic relationship without much depth on any 1 topic. It offers very little insight into resolving these issues.