Before looking to the future, it is important to understand mistakes in U.S.-China policy in the past. During the Cold War, many of the policies toward China were overaggressive and counterproductive. American policymakers insisted on a strategy to contain and intimidate the Chinese. We vastly overestimated their power and made various tactical mistakes in the Vietnam War and Korean War simply because of China’s communist label.

Assessing China’s intentions today is tricky, as there are various factors to consider. On the one hand, China peacefully rose alongside weaker countries in East Asia for nearly 1,000 years. The Chinese have continued working with their neighbors today as they trade heavily with Japan and South Korea and buy natural gas from Russia.

On the other hand, the Chinese are no longer the weak nation that we overestimated during the Cold War. By every estimate, China’s economy will surpass that of the U.S. in the next five years. They have become masters of attracting foreign direct investments and have implemented impressive economic development strategies, such as the creation of special economic zones. China also has one of the most diverse and aggressive energy policies on earth, making them far more energy independent than most countries.

Considering all of this, America should first responsibly re-establish our hegemony in the world and East Asia to ensure global stability. Although most international relations scholars argue China will have more relative influence in East Asia than it has in the past, they still agree America will remain an indispensable force in Asia. Since the end of World War II, America successfully has forged a variety of security and economic relationships with every power broker Asia.

Accordingly, we should continue to build upon and update past relationships in accordance to Asia’s current economic and security concerns. It has been encouraging seeing President Barack Obama shift America’s focus from the Middle East to Asia. Renegotiating the START Treaty with Russia and putting 2,500 troops in Australia should remind the Chinese that the U. S. still is relevant and here to stay in East Asia.

Another way to reaffirm our pre-eminence is to make smart reforms to fix our domestic economy. There is a false narrative of perpetual American decline floating in developing countries like China and India. Fortunately, the deficit reduction and structural problems we face in the U.S. can be dealt with prudently in the medium term.

The problems China faces — housing bubbles, rapid inflation, lack of individual liberties — are long term and far more messy to sort out, even under a system of expedited communist rule. In light of these problems, we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to steal back some of that investment from developing countries if we make our economy the most attractive place on earth for foreign investors.

Finally, America will have to find new ways to work with China. It is true that both countries disagree on a variety of issues. But the world will be a much more stable place if we can find new ways to work with one another. An interesting way to do this is engaging with China on scaling down American forces in Afghanistan.

As Henry Kissinger has written about, an option in our departure to Afghanistan would be setting up a residual international force to act as an enforcement mechanism for Afghan security agreements. Despite China’s reluctance to participate in the internal affairs of other countries, it is worth noting that the terrorist activity in the northern provinces of Afghanistan affects Chinese security. It would be an incredible achievement for the U.S. to lead such a security arrangement.

Altogether, getting U.S.-China policy right will require renewing our image through reforms both domestic and foreign. It will be interesting to see what U.S. policymakers come up with.

Ameek Singh is a State News guest columnist and international relations and political theory and constitutional democracy senior. Reach him at sodhiame@msu.edu.