Richard Bush

China’s rise constitutes one of the great historical events of our time, and its implications for U.S. national security strategy and the U.S. defense budget remain key issues in Washington, as they surely will well into the future. Critical areas to explore include progress that China has made and challenges it has encountered in its economic and military development, as well as the effects of its rise on the region. These changes will likely have ramifications for the United States and its military, as President Obama’s “rebalance” strategy moves into its fourth year.

China’s rise constitutes one of the great historical events of our time, and its implications for U.S. national security strategy and the U.S. defense budget remain key issues in Washington, as they surely will well into the future. Critical areas to explore include progress that China has made and challenges it has encountered in its economic and military development, as well as the effects of its rise on the region. These changes will likely have ramifications for the United States and its military, as President Obama’s “rebalance” strategy moves into its fourth year.

Speaking fluent Chinese, Richard Bush believes the two countries should expand areas of cooperation. "Because you expand the areas of cooperation, you build mutual trust and you can have mutual confidence in each other," he said. "If you always fight about difficult issues, you'll never have a firm foundation," he said. Bush pointed out that the two countries have done quite a good job in cooperating on North Korea, Iran and climate change. Now director of Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings, Bush focuses not only on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, but also Korea and Japan, including China-Japan ties.