Tony You, Your premise is shaky. Are a country and leader undergoing internal strife less serious threats to their neighbors? Finding an outside enemy has been the standard practice when things are not going well at home -- Argentinian generals and the Falkland Islands and Nasser's attack on Israel are two examples.

America is heading into dangerous relations with China, which can be countered by increased contact with China. This is counterintuitive and uncomfortable but is a safer strategy than increasing isolation, which is what we are currently doing.

Many thanks.