Despite its growth as a major power on the world stage, however, China will ultimately face limitations in its global reach, provided that the United States is not absent from the world stage. The Chinese Communist Party is characteristically non-democratic with a sclerotic, suppressive, authoritarian foundation upon which its growth is dependent. Compare that with a set of ideals that America was founded upon: democracy, individual freedom, free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, due process in the application of the law, and separation of power. These are more attractive qualities than the autocratic system of governance that China presents.

China’s ascent and the “rise of the rest” may have resulted in the decline of America’s relative power. However, the United States could still preserve American primacy in the world and outcompete China and Russia through strategic cooperation abroad and bolstering economic growth at home. America should continue to enhance its existing network of alliances around the world. It must also pursue and strengthen new strategic partnerships with the likes of India and the Central Asian Republics, and revive a better version of the Transpacific Partnership Agreement. To deliver on these objectives successfully, the United States must quickly end the pandemic and reopen its economy by making vaccinations equitably available to young adults and the working-age population at the same time as it does to the elderly. Doing so will further allow the United States to reignite its economic vitality, offer a competing vision that is demonstrably better than those of China’s and Russia’s, and preserve the ability to outcompete its strategic rivals and protect its interests globally during the next several decades of great power competition.

Rafi Khetab is a national security analyst and Vice President of Operations at CAPITALIZE LLC, a DC-based government consulting firm. He previously worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan for several years. He holds two advanced degrees in international relations from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and the American University’s School of International Service.

Image: A Filippino Army nurse prepares to deliver the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine. Reuters.