Well, we have studied enough about the cold war over the years and how there existed a bipolar system at that time which actually led to a no-war period as there were two great powers in the form of United States and the Soviet Union as the risk involved to fight for power was far greater.
Now it is interesting to note that how a similar situation is defining the current global structure. The rise of China has proved to be an emergence of another great power in the international forum, with the balance of power phenomena explaining how it has countered the United States position as somewhat of a hegemon. The lecture in class on cold war has enabled us to think in terms of the structure of the global system. First the rise of China was just a fact and how it was countering United states influence in the international arena. However, now we can see the larger picture in terms of how after existence of a Uni-polar system for a long time, the structure is leading to a Bi-polar system with the China's increased economic and military strength
There has been a lot of debate of whether China will eventually challenge the United States for the title of the most powerful state, however it is quite self explanatory. The basic theories of IR explain the nature of states. Power greedy. In an anarchic international structure. Rationally thinking, it is very hard to imagine China not challenging the United States. But looking at history, one could also make the conclusion that it might be relatively a peace period just like the cold war where there was no outbreak of war.
I agree that China is the rising power that could shift the balance of power back to a bipolar system. There are many signs already of Chinese ascendancy, with the most recent being China's creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. But a bipolar system - as was seen in the Cold War - is pretty stable, so global peace may continue to reign.
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