Riding the Tiger: Asia Ascending

China, India, Southeast Asia: Asia’s high-octane economies, though impacted by the global recession, are on a long-term trajectory to expand their influence. Their energy and determination are challenging the economic supremacy of the United States not only in the region but wherever key natural resources are in play. China alone holds the commanding share of U.S. debt in a complex relationship that yokes the two economic titans together in a tense, unpredictable partnership. President Obama says the U.S.-Chinese dynamic is "as important as any bilateral relationship in the world." Is it a zero sum game where either they or “we” prevail or can it be reframed as a quest for shared prosperity? Protectionism and xenophobia threaten to derail the relationship to the detriment of both. How can American foreign and economic policies avoid such mutually destructive outcomes and instead encourage a healthier mix of competition and cooperation?