Power Cycle Theory; a Framework for Analyzing the Process of the Relative Decline of U.S. Power and China's Rising Power

The rise of China and its emergence as an influential international actor has become an undeniable fact in past several decades. China's new status has not only changed regional and international equations, but also made the U.S. face with a new situation. Along these lines, this article tries to explore the impact of China's rising power in difficult fields in international arena and especially, on its relations with the U.S.? This research tries to test the hypothesis that China's rising power in the 21st century has created an imbalance between its increasing power and its limited role and has led to important political and economic challenges between this country and the U.S. To do this, the authors used power and role cycle theory and presented extracted curves based on statistical data related to the U.S. and China's national capabilities. Results show if the U.S. refuses to accept China's role in the international scene, dispute between these two powers will be inevitable and thus the decline of U.S. power will be accelerated. This article while comparing the indices of rise and fall, analyzes the status of both countries based on the adopted theory and finally evaluates options available to the U.S. to confront this new situation.