Will we recover, unbridle ourselves of debt, innovate, pay for our national security? Or, is China fated to become number one, leaving us to live in a Chinese world?

The only leverage the U.S. had was to cancel the summit as soon as it learned that China was going back on its word.

As China grows less predictable and the United States less willing to shoulder its responsibilities, familiar patterns of bilateral relations must change.

We are not in a cold war with China. That is too simple a metaphor to describe the state of Sino-American relations.

What matters for China is not whether Westerners believe the system is cracking. The question is: How do the Chinese view their own system?

Moreover, most allies haven't a clue how the pivot will manifest itself and what role they should be playing. If a "pivot" means anything, it is at the least keeping security commitments. Now Obama has made one -- helping Taiwan close the "fighter gap."

I have found that the Uncertainty Principle of quantum physics actually has no analogue in foreign policy. Regardless, it is a good way to describe Obama's foreign policy doctrine.