ABSTRACT
The relationship between the United States and China arguably is the most important bilateral relationship at the start of the twenty-first century. How the U.S. superpower and rising China relate to each other has a major impact in Asia and other parts of the world. The checkered history of U.S.–China relations shows periods of remarkable pragmatism, with leaders on both sides putting aside ideological, historical, cultural and other differences in the interests of using constructive and advantageous U.S.–China relations. Also well in evidence are periods of sometimes protracted confrontation and conflict, with leaders of the United States and China following policies that antagonize one another and deepen mutual suspicion. U.S.–China relations after the Cold War underlined this mixed record, with years of tension and dispute in the 1990s, followed by comparatively smooth relations in the first few years of the twenty-first century.
