On April 8th, 2014, Richard W. Miller, professor of philosophy at Cornell University, visited the Institute of International & Strategic Studies (IISS), Peking University (PKU), and gave a talk entitled “Avoid Nightmare in the Middle of the Century”. Prof. Wang Jisi, President of IISS hosted the talk. Dr. Yu Tiejun, Assistant President of IISS, Dr. Gui Yongtao and several research assistants of IISS attended the talk. 

Prof. Miller has taught political philosophy at Cornell University for several years, and has published several books such as Globalizing Justice: The Ethics of Poverty and Power. In the talk In the talk, he analyzed the future of Sino-U.S relations and the prevention of conflicts in the 21st century. 

Prof. Miller believes that, from the perspectives of military force, economic interdependence, the controllability of frictions between China and U.S and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the possibility of a large-scale war between China and U.S is relatively low. However, he proposed that China and U.S might re-encounter the nightmare of cold war in the middle of 21st century. As far as U.S is concerned, it is important for U.S diplomatic decision makers to maintain its dominant position, which is also supported by the people of U.S. As far as China is concerned, with the growth of its power, it becomes an issue of concern on how to avoid accepting the passively dominant position of U.S for both the decision-makers and the general public of China.

Prof. Wang Jisi and Dr. Gui Yongtao shared their comments on Prof. Miller’s talk. They also discussed with him on issues such as China’s soft power and the legacy of the cold war from the American’s perspective.