What the US Should Learn from China for a More Balanced and Peaceful World

Abstract

The growing importance of China in the global economy affects the reconfiguration of the international geography of power. In this scenario, the geopolitical order will be significantly redefined by the evolution of relations between China and the U.S. Based on the outcome of previous studies, and on the extensive efforts made by some social scientists, this paper provides a systematic analysis of the complexity and strategic implications of China–US relations.

To make sense of these multivalent relations, after an initial introduction the paper is organized in three sections. The first section explores the structurally asymmetrical nature of relations between China and the US, focusing on economic policy decisions made by national elites. The second section focuses on the deepening U.S. debt, also underscoring the latest transformation trends experienced by an international monetary system that is still dollar–centred, and which several parties deem to be unsustainable. Lastly, the third section tries to provide evidence that growing instability in the global geopolitical order is intimately related to the economic and financial unbalances between China and the U.S. Hence, promoting more effective cooperation between China and the United States seems to be a priority. As substantiated in this paper, cooperation should, however, make the most of the Chinese developmental path, compared to that adopted by the United States – in terms of economic governance and geopolitical developmental path.