Dialogue with Douglas H. Paal

• Source: Global Times
• [11:11 November 13 2009]
• Comments

Global Times: The overall gap between China and the US is getting smaller…do you think the two countries will have more strategic conflicts than strategic cooperation?

Paal: The emphasis so far is increasingly on strategic cooperation. North Korea, Iran, the climate, peace keeping operations are all examples. But both sides also have strategic suspicions about the other.  The main areas of contention, I fear, will be in space, where there are no rules, and in the seas, where we have different interpretations of the Law of the Sea. These latter two arenas need much more high-level attention and management, lest they trigger strategic frictions.