Abstract
Ever since the rivalry between America and China flared up during President Trump’s term in office, the question has been raised about the extent that a situation could develop in which the rivalry between established and new power could lead to a conflict that would exhaust both. The article places this question in a historical and geostrategic context and shows that the focus should be increasingly on the laughing third party that has regularly emerged from such conflicts, which in this case could be India.