China and India are Asia’s two largest countries, and both are rising quickly to claim powerful positions in the international order. Their proximity has made them natural competitors - but their relationship’s pillars and challenges will be important to understand in the 21st Century.

The European Deterrence Initiative resulted in the Russia-Ukraine conflict eight years after its creation. Will the PDI lead to a U.S.-China or Japan-China conflict — or any other conflict in the days to come? The situation should be watched closely with high vigilance.

It’s not in China’s best interests to be trapped in a bilateral tit-for-tat with the United States. We can do better by reaching out constructively to other developed countries. We will win the contest if we can do this.

The shift has been limited so far, so China need not overreact. It should closely monitor where NATO is heading, however. The best way to deal with it is to run its own affairs well and buttress its ability to rise above external shocks and challenges.

America shamelessly uses other countries to further its own agenda, disregarding their needs. It has split the world and kept it in a state of perennial conflict since World War II and is now invoking the nightmarish return of the Cold War.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s head, visited South Korea and Japan recently on a proselyting mission to spread the concept of military deterrence. But China and others have adopted more benign security concept. The region cannot afford to repeat the mistake of replacing dialogue with a show of force.

Relations between China and the Philippines have a direct bearing on stability in the South China Sea and peace in the wider Asia-Pacific region. Like waves in the sea itself, the situation fluctuates. But sensible leaders and a clear outline for settling disputes can prevent a breakdown.

Australia’s alignment to the West and its trade barriers with China has entrenched tensions between the two Asian countries.

War would be a disaster for all. And as Washington policymakers seem to be moving further in that direction, China and the U.S. must contemplate the consequences of military conflict and remember that it would not be their leaders who pay the price, but their people.

Will the Asia-Pacific chart a course forward? Or will it return to the status quo of the Cold War? Mentality matters, and the old thinking inevitably leads to misjudgments. The U.S. sees China through the same prism it once saw the Soviet Union but neglects the fundamental differences of two hugely different ages.