War Strategy Divergence Place Cultures on a Collision Course

The world's power balance has been in transition from the Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific. Unfortunately, the rise of Asia, and more specifically, the rise of China has been accompanied with the relative decline of the United States and the West. This shifting power balance has complicated the security landscape in the Asia-Pacific region. The most vexing security challenge is between the United States and China. At issue is the possibility of war in the midst of this power transition. How do the great powers, especially the United States and China, deal with each other on security issues? This study examines whether a new approach to intellectual discourse is applicable to the security dialogue between these two nations' security relations. The examination assesses whether strategic war cultures are the fundamental underpinnings to the manner in which these rival nation states interact. This analysis will review historical and contemporary strategic documents relating to the two great powers; assess their correlation to the two nations' current diplomatic, military, and economic involvements. It concludes as to the impact of this correlation on current policies and the development of a valid conceptual agenda on which to base United States future engagement strategy.