Abstract

As China becomes a more powerful actor on the world stage, there is much anxiety about what the future relationship between it and the United States will be – specifically regarding the future of the liberal international order and U.S. security interests. Throughout the opening and modernization of the People’s Republic though, it has not displayed dissatisfaction with the world order and thus will not pose a threat to U.S. national security interests in the short-term future.  This thesis will analyze current economic and military developments being taken by the United States and China and apply them to power transition theory literature in an attempt to determine what impact China’s resurgence has on U.S. security interests in the immediate future. As China has only recently opened to the world order and has only taken an active interest in global leadership within the last decade, further research is needed on the long-term prospects of conflict between the United States and China. While tensions will likely increase between the two powers, it is unlikely that there will be a sustained conflict between the two within the next one to two decades.