The US is employing a long-term strategy focused on energy dominance against China, prioritizing reshaping the global economy over direct confrontation. This approach is seen as a patient strategic deception to bolster US power.

Sun Tzu wrote that “fighting and winning all your battles is not the height of skill; subduing the enemy without fighting is the height of skill”. That maxim offers perhaps the clearest lens to interpret the logic of American grand strategy under US President Donald Trump. What many dismiss as inconsistency may conceal a patient strategic deception. The aim is not direct confrontation, but the quiet reshaping of the global economy in support of long-term US power. The US wants to improve its...