Andrew J. Nathan is the Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, and an authority on Chinese politics and foreign policy. He is also chair of the steering committee of the Center for the Study of Human Rights and chair of the Morningside Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Columbia. Nathan's books include Peking Politics, 1918-1923; The Tiananmen Papers, co-edited with Perry Link; China's New Rulers: The Secret Files, co-authored with Bruce Gilley and China’s Search for Security, co-authored with Andrew Scobell. Nathan has a B.A. in history, an M.A. in East Asian Studies and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. He has taught at Columbia University since 1971. Andrew Nathan.Illustration by Kate Copeland Q: In his recent essay in Foreign Affairs, the scholar John Mearsheimer painted a dark portrait of the U.S. rivalry with China, suggesting that China has significant advantages and aims that could push the two nations toward war. You h