US-China Relations in the 21st Century addresses the bilateral relations of these two nations on international, domestic, societal and individual levels between 1990 and 2005. Peaceful power shifts remain a central dilemma in world politics, since historically power transition from a dominant nation to a challenger has been associated with international wars. This book examines whether China and the US can learn from history and manage a potential power transition peacefully.

Zhiqun Zhu selects two important cases of power transitions in history as the background for this study:

• power rivalry between Great Britain and Germany that led to the First World War
• the peaceful power transition from Great Britain to the United States.

US-China Relations in the 21st Century contributes to the current International Relations theory by proposing a new analytical model on global power transition and providing recommendations for peacefully handling a potential power transition from the US to China in the future. This original and comprehensive study is essential reading for scholars of US and Chinese foreign policy, world politics and international relations.