The world today stands at yet another crossroads between war and peace, polarization and coexistence, confrontation and cooperation. China and the United States are mutually reinforcing a climate of unease, resistance, and hardline stances, and their relationship is spiraling downward. As a scholar of Chinese descent who has long studied U.S.–China relations at Washington think tanks, Li Cheng not only offers a penetrating analysis of the United States’ internal fractures—spanning political, economic, social, and foreign policy challenges—but also situates U.S.–China relations within the fundamental transformations of the global economic, political, and security landscape, interpreting their evolution through the lens of an era of profound change.

At multiple levels and from multiple angles, this book demonstrates and responds to the importance of expanding the intersection of U.S. and Chinese interests amid a downturn in bilateral relations. Against the clamor in the West for “decoupling” and “severing supply chains,” the Chinese leadership’s emphasis on “expanding points of interest convergence” and “seeking the greatest common ground” has distinctive value. China needs to open up further, promote more U.S.–China people-to-people exchanges, place greater emphasis on seeking common ground while accommodating differences, and identify new drivers for people-to-people engagement and cooperation.

今日世界正處在戰爭與和平、極化與共存、對抗與合作的又一個新的十字路口。中美互相強化著不安、抵制、強硬的氛圍，兩國關係面臨著螺旋式下降。作為一個長期在華盛頓智庫研究中美關係的華裔學者，李成不僅對目前美國內部的撕裂，包括政治、經濟、社會和外交的困境有著深刻的闡述，而且把中美關係放在世界經濟、政治和安全版圖的根本變化中進行分析，從時代大變局的視角解讀中美關係的變化。
本書從多層次、多方面印證和回應了在中美關係不景氣的環境下擴大中美利益交匯點的重要性。在西方“脫鈎”和“斷鏈”的喧囂背景下，中國領導人強調的“擴大利益匯合點”和“尋求最大公約數”具有獨特價值。中國需要更多地擴大開放，更多地促進中美人文交流，更多地求同存異，尋找新的民間交往與合作的推動力。