The U.S.-China Peace: Great Power Politics, Spheres of Influence, And the Peace of East Asia‪.‬

East Asia in the post-Cold War era has been the world's most peaceful region. Whereas since 1989 there have been major wars in Europe, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and significant and costly civil instability in Latin America, during this same period in East Asia there have been no wars and minimal domestic turbulence. Moreover, economic growth in East Asia has been faster than in any other region in the world. East Asia seems to be the major beneficiary of pax Americana. Yet East Asia is the region where the United States is the least powerful, where it experiences the greatest constraints on its power and on its flexibility. In East Asia the United States does not enjoy hegemony. On the contrary, in East Asia the United States confronts its most formidable rival and potential great power challenger--the People's Republic of China (PRC). Thus, the paradox of East Asia is also the global paradox. Where the United States has been most powerful, there has been regional instability and war. Where there has been great power rivalry and traditional balance of power politics, there has been peace and prosperity.