In the four decades since the U.S. established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, the dynamics between the two countries have moved through periods of collaboration, competition, and occasionally, confrontation. Today, the U.S. and China are competing for military power and positioning in the Indo-Pacific, on trade, for technological power, and in an ongoing debate about democracy versus authoritarianism. At the same time, the two countries need to work with each other on pressing common global challenges such as climate change, controlling the pandemic, stabilizing the global economy, and other issues.
Why the U.S.-China relationship has been marred by such hostility in recent times? Can we learn simultaneously to compete and cooperate? Is a geopolitical conflict between the U.S. and China both inevitable and avoidable?
The goal of this SDG is to begin a process of addressing these complicated questions. To this end, we need to understand the trajectory that has led us to the current, very troubled period. By understanding what happened and why, we will set the stage for our discussions over the course of this SDG to get a clear-sighted view of what may shape U.S.-China relations in the future.
We will use two core books: 1) Selected chapters from China and the World (2020), edited by David Shambaugh, one of the world’s leading China specialists, and written by many of the world’s leading scholars on China. The book not only identifies myriad historical factors that continue to impact China’s calculations and its “grand strategy,” but also evaluates a range of contemporary domestic factors that shape and contribute to the decisions taken by China’s policymakers; and 2) Has China Won? (2020) by Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean academic and former diplomat. Taking advantage of over three decades of hands-on diplomatic experience, Mahbubani provides an Asian perspective on both China and the U.S. and makes us re-examine some long-held assumptions.
For technological competition between the U.S. and China, I included articles from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (2020). In addition, we will use four chapters from Steven Goldstein’s China and Taiwan (2015) dealing with China, Taiwan, and the U.S. entanglement in the Taiwan Strait. Digitized copies of these chapters will be provided. Furthermore, up-to-date articles from scholarly journals and think-tanks will be supplemented during this SDG.
1. Overview (Mahbubani, Chapter 1; Shambaugh, Chapters 1-2)
2. China’s Foreign Policy Making Process (Shambaugh, Chapters 4-5)
3. China’s Global Interactions I: Economic and Technology (Shambaugh, Chapter 6; various articles from the Center for Strategic and International Studies – copies will be provided)
4. China’s Global Interactions II: Governance and Military-Security (Shambaugh, Chapters 8-9)
5. China’s Biliteral and Regional Relationships (Mahbubani, Chapter 4; Shambaugh, Chapters 10 & 13)
6. Strategic Ambiguity I: China, Taiwan, and the U.S. (Goldstein, Chapters 1-2)
7. Strategic Ambiguity II: China, Taiwan, and the U.S. (Goldstein, Chapters 3 & 8)
8. Strategies and Mistakes: China (Mahbubani, Chapter 2; Shambaugh, Chapter 3)
9. Strategies and Mistakes: The U.S. (Mahbubani, Chapter 3 & 5)
10. Assumptions Reexamined: China (Mahbubani, Chapter 6)
11. Assumptions Reexamined: The U.S. (Mahbubani, Chapter 7 & Appendix)
12. Going Forward (Mahbubani, Chapter 9; Shambaugh, Chapter 16)
Center for Strategic and International Studies (2020).
Kahata, Akinori. “Managing U.S-China Technology Competition and Decoupling”
Kahata, Akinori. “Assessing the Impact of U.S.-China Technology Competition and Decoupling: Focusing on 5G”
Marin, Luddovic. “The U.S.-China Race and the Fate of Transatlantic Relations, Parts I and II”
Golstein, Steven M. China and Taiwan. Polity Press, 2015.
Mahbubani, Kishore. Has China Won? Hachette Book Group, 2020.
Shambaugh, David (ed.) China & the World. Oxford University Press, 2020.