U.S. Strategic Competition with China

This research primer presents key findings and themes from past RAND Corporation research on the strategic competition between China and the United States. This review of RAND reports, mostly from the past five years, highlights seven major findings: (1) China is the United States most important strategic competitor; (2) economics, diplomacy, and technology play central roles in the competition; (3) China is narrowing the gap in national power; (4) the U.S. security position in Asia is eroding; (5) the risk of a catastrophic U.S.-China war is low; (6) a key challenge will be to manage U.S. alliances and partnerships; and (7) the struggle is intensifying through measures other than war. The findings and themes suggest several topics for further research, such as ways to improve coordination across domains, levels, alliances, and partnerships; the best ways to compete, including the role of measures other than war; technological aspects of the competition; measures of cooperation amid the competition; and geopolitical opportunities.