America’s strategy for countering China depends on regional alliances following our lead on policing conflicts, managing supply chains, military bases and maintaining dollar dominance. But our allies don’t always share our agenda. Our influence is political, not moral. We have influence only so far as it serves the strategic and tactical needs of our allies. Captain America can’t unite the Avengers if that unity is based on moral right and wrong, instead of self-interest. We live and work in a multi-polar world.

China and Russia are working with most of our regional allies in trade agreements based on mutual benefit. Leaders need strong economies, jobs and policies popular with their own citizens to survive and thrive. The State Department must partner with private businesses to steer international trade relations that find common economic cause as the foundation of our efforts to counter China. It’s their economies, stupid!