In a multi polar world (US, EU, China, India, Russia, Brazil) the first two powers fight will lose. The US can learn from China. When the US petitioned the UN to invade Iraq for the second time, Russia protested vehemently, but China response was muted. She declared that peace was preferred over invasion and all parties should seek a political solution. The US thought China did not care about Iraq, in reality she set a political tone so the US would leap into Iraq because China figure it would become a quagmire for the US. It turned out to be true. IED, ROE and repeated deployments sapped the US forces, and treasury. China is repeating the strategy today. Let the US and Russia fight. If Russia loses she would be forced to be more dependent on China for cash. If Russia wins, the US is weakened and China is in a much better position to expand her claims in Asia. Do not forget, China and Russia are natural enemies. Today they need each other to balance against US dominance. If US is diminished, both will re align themselves. Right now China chose the “monkey on the rock watching two lions fight” approach to world conflict.
It’s not like Sun Tzu’s “Art Of War” is out of print. They’ve been using it against the USA for decades, especially the bit about breaking your enemy’s resistance without fighting.
Learning Maoism from China is what the politicians in DC decided to study instead.