America and its self-defeating Sinophobes

Of course, all this is only half the story. China is equally guilty of its own strain of "Ameri-phobia" - demonising the US for its accusations of Chinese economic espionage, unfair trading practices and human rights violations. Both phobias are related to the profusion of false narratives that I address in my most recent book, Accidental Conflict. Not since the red-baiting of the early 1950s has America so vilified a foreign power. Notwithstanding this tit-for-tat blame game, my point now is different: There is good reason to worry about an increasingly virulent strain of this phobia spinning out of control…