China specialist and former Defense Department official Michael Pillsbury made yet another U-turn in his position on China. For more than 30 years, Pillsbury prided himself on being labeled an unabashed “panda hugger” who blamed U.S. policies for tensions in the U.S.-China relationship.

Michael Pillsbury, partly the inspiration for President Trump's more confrontational approach to China, pointed to a book by a Chinese colonel about the "post-American era" and "duel of the century." One analyst claims the Chinese have persuaded Americans they are locked in such a duel — though a national survey by my organization, the Eurasia Group Foundation, finds little such concern among the public.

Two books written by President Trump in 2000 and 2015 help to explain why he has been