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Robert Kaplan & I write in @foreignaffairs that Americans should not see the necessary competition w/ China as primarily about ideology. Doing so will misconstrue the nature of the competition – w/ potentially catastrophic results. Summary thread follows. 1/
Why? Beijing’s motivations in pursuing its goal of regional hegemony are largely not ideological. A) China very likely seeks to form a regional trade area/bloc favorable to its economy. B) Its drive for hegemony also has strategic purpose. China has long felt fenced in. Now...2/
wants to compel neighboring states to take security cues from Beijing. C) & after “century of humiliation,” China is eager to stand tall, asserting its power in Asia and beyond. None of these imperatives is strictly ideological. 3/
Building an anti-hegemonial coalition (a la https://www.state.gov/deputy-secretary-biegun-remarks-at-the-u-s-india-strategic-partnership-forum/)">https://www.state.gov/deputy-se... will be difficult if U.S. insists on seeing competition w China as primarily ideological. Even worse, it could lead to far more negative outcomes than necessary. 4/
By definition, an ideological struggle makes the rivalry an existential cage match, heightening its intensity and risks even further. can also block more stable relationship if a CCP–led China is willing to respect US/allied interests. 5/
& construing the competition as principally ideological tends to turn every disturbance in another country into a test of which political system is superior, magnifies the importance of fundamentally peripheral events. This thinking https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/kennedy.asp">https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_cent... ⇢ Vietnam War 6/
& will be hard or impossible, to work with less liberal or nondemocratic states. But many/most key Asian states either not democs (VN) or not model Freedom House democracies (India, Phils, Malaysia, etc etc). No use to have Denmark/Norway but not many of these. 7/
We& #39;re not proposing one-dimensional realpolitik. The United States must stand for freedom, republican government, and human dignity. & we must recognize Beijing itself thinks in at least substantially ideological terms. 8/
But while Americans may wish for PRC to become freer, it& #39;s not their responsibility, necessary, nor would it solve all problems. Scale of China’s power would cause profound concern for U.S. policymakers even if China were a democracy. So US must be clear-eyed & selective. END/
Link here:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-09-04/ideology-delusion?amp=true
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/... href="https://twitter.com/ForeignAffairs">@ForeignAffairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-09-04/ideology-delusion?amp=true
