| List of Figures, Tables and Maps | p. ix |
| Preface | p. x |
| List of Acronyms | p. xii |
| Introduction and a Framework for Analysis | p. 1 |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| What the literature says about strategic maneuvers among the great powers: The conceptual framework | p. 12 |
| The Proto-Peer Competitor and the Hegemon | p. 26 |
| What drives Sino-US competition? | p. 26 |
| Six-party talks as soft balancing and selective cooperation strategies | p. 40 |
| Cooptation and soft balancing strategies in the management of the global economy | p. 45 |
| The competitive and cooperative aspects of China's energy strategy | p. 49 |
| Sino-US regional interactions: A spectrum of cooperation, competition, and cooptation | p. 53 |
| Closing observations: Applying the conceptual framework | p. 73 |
| The Dynamics of Russian-American Ties | p. 76 |
| Pretentions of cooperation or taking Russia for granted? | p. 76 |
| Machiavelli would have been proud: The resurgence of Russian strategic ambitions | p. 81 |
| Russia's strategic maneuvers toward Europe, Ukraine and Georgia, and central Asia: Soft balancing gone berserk? | p. 85 |
| The role of the Russia-Iran nexus (soft balancing) in US-Russia maneuvers | p. 99 |
| Closing observations: Applying the conceptual framework | p. 106 |
| The Elephant and the Eagle: The Ups and Downs of a Cooperative Relationship and Soft Balancing | p. 110 |
| A major lesson of the Cold War: Sitting on the fence keeps you out of the great power league | p. 110 |
| Entering the big power league: Soft balancing has its own rewards | p. 114 |
| Implications of rocky US-China affairs on the US-India strategic partnership | p. 117 |
| Closing observations: Applying the conceptual framework | p. 125 |
| Competitive and Cooperative Relationships of the Great Powers | p. 128 |
| Sino-Russian strategic encounters | p. 129 |
| Sino-Russian military cooperation | p. 134 |
| Central Asia | p. 137 |
| The Sino-Indian strategic maneuvers: Modalities of competition and cooperation | p. 144 |
| Whither the Sino-Indian naval competition? | p. 147 |
| Oil as competitive and cooperative factors | p. 156 |
| Strategic interactions between India and Russia | p. 159 |
| Closing observations: Applying the conceptual framework | p. 170 |
| The Hegemon's Maneuvers | p. 173 |
| Preventing the decline through soft balancing, cooperation, and the post-Cold War practice of unilateralism | p. 174 |
| Closing observations: Applying the conceptual framework | p. 193 |
| Conclusion: The Future Maneuvers of the Great Powers | p. 197 |
| Internal balancing | p. 202 |
| Soft balancing | p. 203 |
| The ubiquitous competition among the great powers and the hegemon | p. 206 |
| What motivates the great powers and the hegemon? | p. 207 |
| Future interactions of the great powers | p. 208 |
| The conceptual framework revisited | p. 215 |
| The way ahead | p. 218 |
| Notes | p. 220 |
| Bibliography | p. 238 |
| Index | p. 256 |
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