Bush must be willing to accept Europeans as genuine partners and stop treating them like recalcitrant vassals. European leaders must overcome any latent Anti Americanism and be prepared to make the kind of contributions to common endeavors that would entitle them to equal partnership with the US.

The philosophical problem concerns China s renewed conception of itself as the Middle Kingdom, a state with no sovereign equal. Throughout its history, China has sought to treat its neighbors as vassals a mindset currently reflected in the way that it has approached negotiations with Vietnam and the Philippines over the South China Sea.