A Sino-American joint military exercise on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) to a typhoon-hit country was held in Haikou, Hainan Province. These cooperative exercises are still in the early phases; non-traditional threats such as counter-terrorism, peacekeeping and maritime security, are still institutionally, logistically, and legally lacking.

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.

The recent announcement by the Pentagon to pause the expansion of mil-to-mil exchanges with China hearkens to the anachronistic Cold War attitudes of creating and dehumanizing an enemy. China and the U.S. will likely have disagreements related to overlapping issues, but the need for cooperation on mutual global issues is necessary to avoid reckless encounters.

The most vulnerable part in Sino-US relations is military relations. The recent MOU between the two militaries is a great effort from both sides to “develop a new model of military-to-military relations”.

After several years of drift and decline, the US-China relationship ended 2014 modestly improved. The central task going into a new year is to build on this new momentum to strengthen the foundation of the relationship, build strategic trust, and work in tandem (or in parallel) on global issues of mutual concern.

There are several scenarios for military regional order in the Pacific, but “collective security” would be the most desirable strategic choice for regional countries. Existing organizations and communications platforms, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, provide a good foundation for this military order and continued economic integration in the Pacific.

Tao Wenzhou explains how the Xi-Obama Summit achieved four major bilateral goals: increased commitment to create a new bilateral investment agreement, shared reduction of CO2 emissions, more liberal visa regulations for people-to-people exchanges, and new mil-to-mil protocols.

Zhang Junshe describes how the establishment of mutual trust mechanisms between China and the U.S.– through military leader exchanges and joint military exercises – can help both sides to know each other’s strategic intentions and reduce the possibilities of misunderstanding and misjudgment and thus lower the risks of military friction.

Doug Bandow explains how expanding the INF Treaty to Asia would benefit U.S. – Russian cooperation and dampen geopolitical and military tension over territorial issues. While China might initially be wary of joining such an effort due to concerns with Taiwanese independence, a new arms control regime would ultimately offer Beijing significant benefits as well.

The Cold War ended but there followed the interventions in Southeast Europe, continuing wars in Iraq, campaigns in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Liby