It has been argued that China has benefitted from U.S. sanctions in Iran, and will lose out in the case of a U.S.-Iran détente. Yet hostility has already severely undermined China’s economic relations with Iran, and though China and the U.S. do share the same security concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, they have different ideas for solutions.

Ramses Amer compares the diplomatic views and policies of the U.S. with those of China to shed light on the future their interaction. Wide differences exist in their justification for the use of force in inter-state relations; an unlikely but cooperative solution would be for the U.S. to conform more to the UN Charter and principle of non-interference, as China has.

China’s new anti-terror laws are in response to changing transnational terrorist networks and are intended to designate agencies responsible for anti-terror activities while defining the obligations of the state, society, enterprises, and individual citizens. U.S. IT companies are concerned that increased security and oversight will affect business operations, but Fu Xiaoqiang reminds that this is not unseen in U.S. law either.

The Arab Spring was neither a transformation from authoritative political system to western democracy, nor a religious “Islamic Awakening.” Dr. Jin Liangxiang describes it as the reconstruction of political legitimacy, and primarily caused due to governments losing their legitimacy by not providing economically for the people. Externally imposed political systems will not solve the ongoing issues, though.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently presided over a discussion on international security at the UN in New York. The principle of unity and multilateral cooperation, the basis of the original UN Charter, was the foreground to China’s continued calls for cooperation on investments, terrorism, and military trust mechanisms.

Jia Chunyang discusses the outstanding features of the U.S. National Security Strategy report. In general, the new report is a basic follow-up to the Obama administration’s opinions about China as well as its diplomatic philosophy reflected in its 2010 edition. But it has a more confident tone.

In order to defeat IS, action needs to be taken well beyond Iraq and Syria. The entire campaign will not be measured in months. It needs to be a global, multi-pronged and long-term battle and requires global input and cooperation to extirpate this universal scourge.

President Obama is very cautious in using military force. The transforming foreign policy strategy for the U.S. has been to share the cost of hegemony. For the United States, the main risk comes from the possibility of lacking confidence in U.S. strength among the allies and partners, but the strong leadership has reassured that the question is not whether the U.S. will lead, but how it will.

Both the responses the next U.S. Defense Secretary gave to the Senate Armed Services Committee and the latest U.S. National Security Strategy adopt a benign tone regarding China. These documents generally affirm a desire to improve overall relations and continue China-U.S. defense exchanges even while seeking greater Chinese military transparency and the peaceful resolution of China’s maritime claims in the Pacific.

The National Security Strategy Reports outlined the U.S. interests in the world, and was more cautious than the 2010 report in addressing sensitive topics for China, stressing that cooperation is beneficial for its national security. The U.S. still views China as a rival, though, and should keep with the global trend of common interest rather than zero-sum.