"The idea that you would have anything remotely like a 20th century struggle where you have grand alliances representing one set of intellectual and political beliefs against another is not in the cards," argued Richard Haass, president of the Council of Foreign Relations and a former top Bush administration official.

"That simply sets this century apart from the previous one and the ones before that."

China's increasing power makes it the most likely global competitor to the United States believe some analysts. A recent article in the June 2005 issue of the Atlantic Monthly by Robert Kaplan titled "How We Would Fight China" highlights some of those concerns.

In it, he writes, "The American military contest with China in the Pacific will define the twenty-first century. And China will be a more formidable adversary than Russia ever was."

Haass disagrees with realist theory that it is inevitable China becomes a competitor to the United States and that Washington should begin preparing for another Cold War.

"I don't think we can stop China's rise and I don't think we want to," he said. "I think that if we start preparing in an overt way for a Cold War ... we will get a Cold War."

Haass instead proposes a doctrine of integration for U.S. foreign policy that engages other powers in partnerships to develop strong international institutions and bring in nations that are not participants in global modernity. He believes U.S. foreign policy has been missing a doctrine to replace the Cold War policy of containment.

"I think instead we ought to emphasize trying to integrate China, which diminishes the chance of a Cold War, and we ought to maintain good relations with everyone else in the region," he said. "That, plus maintaining our own strength, sends a very powerful message to China that there is no percentage in getting in a Cold War with us; we simply have too many resources at our disposal."

Experts, however, a new policy to deal with China may be difficult because of the multifaceted relationship the United States has with the Asian giant.

"It is hard to have a strategic doctrine with regard to China because we have such a mixed relationship. Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush had one of engagement," Robert Sutter, a China expert and professor at Georgetown University, told United Press International. "You need a lot of sophistication and people view the balance differently. Where do you put the balance, on the areas of difference and friction, or on cooperation? In general, this administration has been on the side of cooperation."

Bonnie Glaser, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told UPI U.S. military preparedness in the Pacific would not necessarily lead to conflict.

"I don't believe that (military buildup) in and of itself will lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. The reason why I do support more military equipment is specifically the Taiwan Strait issue," she said. "There is a need to balance deterrence with engagement, but it is not a one-on-one.

"We need to encourage China to continue to abide by international norms. China has already in many ways become integrated in the world stage and is invested in the status quo."

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province of the mainland. The United States has acknowledged the "one-China" position, but believes a peaceful solution must be reached and has given weapons and aid to Taiwan to maintain its de-facto independence.

Sutter agreed that though the United States should engage and integrate China, it should be militarily prepared.

"It is prudent for the United States to have the forces available that it feels it needs to deal with the Taiwan contingency. We seem to be in a situation with China now where China is rapidly advancing its military capabilities. The U.S. is in a responsive mode to that," he said. "The Bush administration likes to say the relationship with China is cooperative, constructive and candid. This is the candid aspect of it."

Some analysts say China has not been the primary focus for U.S. foreign policy after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and that it has used that opportunity to improve its relations both with the United States and with regional powers.

"They are hedging against the possibility that a U.S. government adopts a strategic objective of trying to contain China's rise," said Glaser. "They are positioning themselves economically, less militarily, to use whatever leverage they can to deal with situations that arise."

Sutter argued that China has followed the same pattern of relations for years and would ideally like to see a gradual diminishing of U.S. involvement in the region.

"That a China-centric order is emerging in Asia is ridiculous," he said. "The power reality of Asia, as China would be the first to admit, is that the United States is the dominant power by far."

One of the key areas for cooperation with China is on the issue of North Korean nuclear armament, which Haass views as a primary U.S. foreign policy concern. North Korea has since last June refused to rejoin six-nation talks to curtail its nuclear weapons program. recently, however, it indicated it would soon return to the talks, which include the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.

"I think the way you bring China in is by making clear to the Chinese that this is a test case in U.S.-China relations and that if they help us with North Korea we will use all of our leverage to make sure no other country in East Asia develops nuclear weapons. At the end of the day they have as much at stake as we do," said Haass.

Glaser agrees the danger of horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons is understood by the Chinese but the risks of taking a stronger stance toward North Korea do not outweigh the benefits.

"The Chinese don't want a solution of this issue that results in a rupture of their relation with North Korea, nor do they want a collapse of the government of North Korea that would lead to large numbers of refugees," said Glaser. "The Chinese have leverage, but in order for them to use it and decide to use it, we have to shape the dynamics in a way that we make the benefits of using their leverage greater than the risks. As the Chinese see it now, the risks outweigh the benefits."

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