Sino-US tensions do not have to culminate in another Cold War

NOT a day passes in Washington of late without a US official, member of Congress, or some pundit warning of the coming “new Cold War” between China and the United States, and that a military confrontation between the 2 global powers is almost inevitable.

One does not have to be a geostrategic thinker to conclude that these 2 superpowers are engaged in an accelerating economic competition involving trade, finance and technological development.

Similarly, it is clear that China and the US are trying to exert their diplomatic influence and maintain their military presence in East Asia and other parts of the world. But the acceptance of the above assertions should not lead one to assume that this global rivalry needs to end with a cold or hot war.