The most damaging strategy an adversary can pursue, in other words, is not likely to be its most gainful one—indeed, in most cases, pursuing it is likely to be foolhardy in the extreme, if not simply insane. And insanity is vanishingly rare in state decision-making. Trying to obtain a perfect defense is therefore not only unwise but unnecessary. And since the United States cannot afford to be profligate in competition with a state of the potency and wealth of China, what is unnecessary is ill-advised.
