Germany does not only "have itself to blame" - the gas relationship dates back to the Soviet Union and was supposed to work the other way around. The way Germany saw it, it was the Soviet Union that would become technologically and economically dependent on the West. It was a good plan.

After the unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union the ex-KGB people knew that this was like the one deal that could make a fortune and give them access to power. Germany was be eager to keep up their end of the deal. What Germans didn't understand is that the people on the other side of the table were not the old communist politicians but corrupt gangsters.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the entire West has only itself to blame in the way it underestimated Putin's strategic prowess and brutality. Influence is a two way road and all that.

I think that you are correct in seeing the similarities to the US-China relationship, but I don't think it's that simple. For one China isn't stupid. They will continue to do what they can to exert power in this relationship. But China is in an advantageous position right now, so they don't need to be invading anyone. What's more, the people in charge in China aren't gangsters, they're a political party with an actual ideology. That makes a big difference because these kinds of people usually aren't very eager to handle wars. What's more likely in the coming years are proxy wars and competing ambitious economic infrastructure development plans. But then again, all plans have a way of backfiring in one way or another, sooner or later so we will just have to wait and see.