Introduction The United States and China have had a long history of international relations, from enemies to competitors. China’s Global presence has become imperative in the future of polarity. Prior to the 2008 financial crisis the US and China had strong relations; yet the US adapted to a unilateral foreign policy approach focusing on “The War on Terror,” distancing themselves bilaterally. Cooperation or conflict with the United States (US) and China will depend on foreign policy implemented by each country. The security presence in the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan as well as, a multilateral focus on interdependence will determine such policy. During the past years when the US and China focused on business matters, relations progressed smoothly, however, whenever ideology, value and power overrode these interests both countries became intertwined in resentment and hostility. The US has to adapt to a multilateral foreign policy approach including China in it’s future, free of historical differences. China’s domestic policy should favor liberalization, which will then lead to a foreign policy that will develop a beneficial assertive behavior focused on interdependence. Thus creating a formula for cooperation, an opposing condition will lead to conflict. Theories and Predictions Security The US-China relationship is one dependent on power and influence in the international community. US policy’s, self-centered, unilateral approach has resulted in a greater security presence in East Asia to help the power struggle of ASEAN and East Asian states. This struggle exists due to a lack of trust. As China rises, it’s actions become unclear to the peripheral states resulting in a favored US p... ... middle of paper ... ...ng to Beijing’s Abrasive Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs (Mar./Apr. 2011), 54-67. T.J. Pempel. How Bush Bungled Asia, Pacific Review (Dec. 2008), 547-552, 556-576. Evan S. Medeiros. The New Security Drama in East Asia: The Responses of U.S. Allies and Security Partners to Chinas Rise, Naval War College Review (Autumn 2009), 37-43, 48- 51. Jeffrey Legro, What China Will Want: The Future Intentions of a Rising Power, Perspectives on Politics, 5, no. 3 (2007), 515-534. Robert Sutter. The Obama Administration and US Policy in Asia, Contemporary Southeast Asia 31:2 (2009), 189-192, 196-203, 209-212. Thomas J. Christensen. The Advantages of an Assertive China: Responding to Beijing’s Abrasive Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs (Mar./Apr. 2011), 54-67. T.J. Pempel. How Bush Bungled Asia, Pacific Review (Dec. 2008), 547-552, 556-576.
Steven Hook and John Spanier's 2012 book titled “American foreign policy since WWII" serves as one of the most important texts that can be used in understanding the underlying complexities on American foreign policies. Like the first readings that are analyzed in class (American Diplomacy by George Kennan and Surprise, Security, and the American Experience by John Lewis Gaddis), this text also brings history into a more understandable context. Aside from being informative and concise in its historical approach, Hook and Spanier also critiques the several flaws and perspectives that occurred in the American foreign policy history since World War II.
For the first time in the history of cross-strait tensions, there was a real threat that Washington and the CCP could engage in war. Washington’s involvement would come in because of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. The implication of this Act is that the U.S. promised to protect Taiwan in the event of an attack. Therefore, if the CCP decided to engage in a war with Taiwan, the United States would have no choice but to support Taiwan.
Shambaugh, David, “Lifting the EU Arms Embargo on China: An American Perspective”, Discussion paper prepared for the CSIS/SWP conference “China’s Rise: Diverging U.S.- EU Approaches and Perceptions,” Berlin, April 28-29, 2005
Moreover, economic interdependence promotes peaceful trade between countries since it is beneficial and avoids war at all cost. For example, “China’s economy is thoroughly integrated in this complex interdependence global economy,” thus it would be suicidal for China to start war (Wong, The Rise of Great Powers, Nov.18). China free trades with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and has developed a profitable relationship that led to trade surplus (Kaplan, pg.3). As a result, starting conflicts with the ASEAN will threaten the Chinese economy because it will drastically impact free trade and will cause a downfall in profits. The possibility of war between China and United States is remote because China would rather benefit from resources such as, security, technology, and market that United States provides (Wong, The Rise of Great Powers, Nov.18). Although economic power shifts to China, United States provides security because it has always been the dominant hegemony; therefore, it has a better and powerful economy (Green, pg.34). It is evident that China’s economy is rapidly increasing, but it still has no interest in being the head hegemony and therefore does not challenge United States. That being said, countries choose to avoid conflicts with United States or their trading partners since it will negatively impact their markets and investments.
Thomas Wright’s “The Fall of the Unipolar Concert” describes the decline of U.S. global power to other states like Russia and China. It claims that these countries have been initiating revisionist and power balancing measures that threaten U.S. global hegemony. Russia brings back a light red scare by annexing Crimea to stop the expansion of the European Union and NATO, building up its military capabilities, and executing special military operations (Wright, 8). China has strengthen its claims on the South China Sea through aggressive marine operations which have created tensions with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and the United States. China has station and intimidated the surrounding countries where they claim as their economic exclusion zones while blocking the U.S.’s freedom to navigate the waters.
President Nixon and Henry Kissinger both believed that the US could ensure its national security and promote its interests by establishing stronger diplomatic relations with the big powers and through that control and influence their decision-making. The US wanted to be the center of this multipolar world, but this could only be achieved by downplaying the importance of ideology towards the Soviet Union and to open up towards China, “(…) which the United States had...
Evaluating threats to America’s national security is a challenge that is undertaken by academics, intelligence analysts, policy-makers, and anyone else with the patience. During the Cold War, America’s biggest concern was easy to define, the only other state capable of competing with America, the Soviet Union. Today, America faces threats from states, non-state actors, domestic groups, and even economic conditions. However, two states should always be kept in mind when discussing national security, China and Russia, with China being the biggest threat.
Nathan, Andrew J. "U.S.-China Relations Since 1949." U.S.-China Relations Since 1949 | Asia for Educators | Columbia University. Columbia University, 2009. Web. 26 May 2014.
INTRODUCTION : a brief overview of the current situation regarding the security issue in the Pacific region
The Soviet Union’s collapse at the end of the Cold War left the United States without its major global rival. Now alone at the top, the United States’ strategic imperatives have shifted remarkably. The shift has been significant enough to prompt fundamental questions about the international order and whether this new “unipolar moment” will last. Indeed, since 1989, political scientists have clamored to define the United States’ status relative to the rest of the world. Indispensable nation? Sole super...
The U.S. trade deficit has risen more or less steadily since 1992. In the second quarter of 2004, the trade deficit relative to GDP surpassed the 5 percent mark for the first time. Many economists already considered trade deficits above 4 percent of GDP dangerously high. The fear is that continued growth in this external imbalance of the U.S. economy will ultimately spook overseas investors. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/09/b193700.html
Given these sets of circumstances, china, Taiwan and United States have much to gain and even more to lose if an armed conflict erupts in the Taiwan Strait. All three countries have political, economic, and national security issues involved and united states and china are both in competition economic...
From the beginning of their establishment, the bilateral relations between the United States of America and China have changed throughout the time. The bilateral relations between the two countries emerged in the 1970’s with the ‘Ping-Pong’ diplomacy and there have been many pauses in their mutual relations. The US and China enjoyed cooperation in economic and military spheres and the mutual relations grew massively during until the end of 1990’s. The heads of the two states began visiting each other’s countries and the economic ties were tightening year by year. However, the issues of human rights and free speech declined mutual Sino-American relations.
Wei-Wei Zhang. (2004). The Implications of the Rise of China. Foresight, Vol. 6 Iss: 4, P. 223 – 226.
In the race to be the best, China is clearly outperforming the United States. China has strong economic fundamentals¬ such as “a high savings rate, huge labor pool, and powerful work ethic” (Rachman, Gideon. "Think Again: American Decline). Their economy has grown an astonishing 9-10% over the past thirty years; almost double of what it used to be decades ago. China is also the “world’s greatest manufacturer and its greatest market” (Rachman). The continuing growth of China's economy is a source of concern for not only the U.S. but surrounding nations as well. One could argue that the U.S. need not worry about China’s growth because of the spread of globalization and that western ideologies would influence China to turn to democracy. Yet China has still managed to “incorporate censorship and one party rule with continuing economic success” (Rachman) and remains a communist country. Hypothetically, even if China does resort to a democratic state, this does not gua...