Military power alone cannot sustain global dominance, and attempts to assert it in the face of structural decline may hasten the very outcome they seek to prevent.
[W]hen ethics are abandoned for epics, and when political power subverts rational military decision-making, it is not surprising that symptoms of strategic fatigue begin to develop.
Beijing wants to avoid being drawn into a confrontation with Washington while still demonstrating that it has an independent voice on major international crises.