The ‘Chinese Dream’ or the ‘American Nightmare’: Where Did the U.S.-China Relations Come in Three Decades

The bulk of academic studies characterize the contemporary U.S. – China relations as asymmetrical ones, in which the relations' agenda − a course towards finding areas of cooperation or emphasizing contradictions/rivalry − was set by Washington's policy towards China, with the latter being...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Y. V. Leksyutina
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: MGIMO University Press 2021-08-01
Series:Международная аналитика
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Online Access:https://www.interanalytics.org/jour/article/view/333
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Summary:The bulk of academic studies characterize the contemporary U.S. – China relations as asymmetrical ones, in which the relations' agenda − a course towards finding areas of cooperation or emphasizing contradictions/rivalry − was set by Washington's policy towards China, with the latter being more of a reacting party. In this paper, I argue that one needs a further and deeper reflection on the current confrontation between the U.S. and China, in particular the reasons and circumstances of how and why the “Chinese dream” of a remarkable renaissance of the Chinese nation became an American nightmare, forcing Washington to opt for a containment policy against China. In this regard, I show the importance of tracing the dynamics of the post-Cold War development of the U.S. – China relations to comprehend the patterns and logic of the shaping of American policy towards China. The article also explains the evolution of U.S. – China relations in the post-Cold War period as determined by the presence or absence of a strategic basis in the U.S. – China relations, which implies cooperation between the two countries in stopping the external existential threat to the U.S. So, I conclude that the uniqueness of the current stage lies in the fact that, because of China's emergence as a strong global power and Washington's disillusions about China, China itself is beginning to be perceived by Washington as an existential threat, to stop which the containment policy should be applied.
ISSN:2587-8476
2541-9633