Expectations about the upcoming BRICS meeting in Brazil on July 15 are high, with many of the participant leaders aiming for the meeting to be a success for various political reasons. Eric Farnsworth analyzes these expectations, as well as the topics on the BRICS agenda for discussion.

On July 1, Abe’s government lifted a constitutional ban on collective self-defense. The US, initially indifferent to this development, later expressed its support, despite strong rhetoric condemning Japanese aggression and behavior during WWII. It is necessary for China to properly develop its relationship with the U.S. in order to prevent Japan from further deviating from a peaceful path.

While borrowing Chinese President Xi's hope that the United States would take into consideration the Chinese perspective when it comes to territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, Wang Dong criticizes widely spread US misperception and misunderstanding of China's foreign policy behavior, and argues that the absence of the Chinese perspective may have led to much of the misreading of China’s behavior.

Despite the recent U.S. indictment of PLA officials on grounds of cyber-hacking, Dan Steinbock argues that the only way forward is for both the U.S. and China to acknowledge the facts of the matter and sincerely work to enhance bilateral relations.

Outer space is an increasingly important domain of the global commons, but despite the benefits of a Sino-U.S. cooperative approach to space, there remain areas of competition between the two major powers. China and the U.S. should overcome the resistance, build a framework for broad space cooperation, and try to overwhelm the impulse of confrontation by the impetus of cooperation.

The question “can we all get along?” as posed by Rodney King is echoed by Tom Watkins as he stresses that this sentiment should be applied to China-U.S. relations. Additionally, Watkins further stresses that the seeds for this cooperation already exist and the S&ED provides a forum to help foster this cooperation.

The upcoming China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue provides the perfect opportunity for the United States and China to effectively and efficiently cooperate on various issues that concern both nations’ interests individually, as well as collectively. Additionally, Wu Zurong believes that the U.S. should use the forum to scale back its seemingly hardline stance against China.

As the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue takes place, Zhang Zhixin discusses the current status of China-U.S. relations. Zhixin characterizes the U.S. as acting antagonistically toward China and cites various instances. He also emphasizes the importance of acting to quickly alleviate recent tensions between the two powers at this year’s S&ED.

As China and the U.S. prepare for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing from 9-10 July 2014, they might usefully conduct a mutual stock taking of what went so horribly wrong in their cyber relationship and what they can do to redress it.

As time has progressed, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have proven to be enduring, and quite relevant. In addition to promoting this thesis, Yu Sui analyzes the various facets that make the Five Principles so appealing, as well as the opposition its proponents face.