Or instead of risking nuclear war, where there are no winners, only losers - just accept that things change and you can't be top dog forever.

That said, I don't actually think China will replace the US as top dog. It's growing faster yes, but has serious Japan-like demographic problems fast approaching. The thing about demographic problems is they're predictable and almost impossible to escape.

In absolute dollar value terms, the US is still competitive with China, which means they'll likely never close that gap before their demographics catch up with them.