As Sino-American competition for influence enters a new stage with the Obama administration’s re-engagement with Asia, each power’s legacies in the region add to economic, military and diplomatic factors determining which power will be more successful in the competition. Robert Sutter, Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, argues that "the strong American foundation of webs of positive non-government regional interchange and the Obama government's widely welcomed re-engagement with the region contrasts with rising China's poor awareness of its historical impact on the region and limited non-government connections."

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