The discussion revolves around the role that should be played in the international arena by the United States of America, a superpower that appears to have passed its influential peak. The US has hopes pinned on Asia as a new lifeline to global economic dynamism, but China, the dominant force on the continent, is an unavoidable obstacle to US "hegemony". What is China seeking to achieve? How might the US and Japan cooperate in response? And what will become of international security?
![Border patrol officers pull barbed wires as irregular immigrants coming from Central and South America who have gathered in the town of Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican border continue to wait at the US border on March 20, 2024, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Photo by Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_sm/public/2025-01/GettyImages-2092456479.jpg?h=b0d169d7&itok=24WdaEF5)
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Border patrol officers pull barbed wires as immigrants wait at the United States border on March 20, 2024, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)