What’s more, a bipolar power structure is generally considered to be more stable than a multipolar one-so leaders such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has spoken out in favor of a multipolar order, should be careful what they wish for. It is the result of several decades of Chinese economic and military growth that has closed the gap to the United States. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali, Indonesia, “the first superpower summit of the Cold War Version 2.0.” This has raised concerns, particularly in Europe, about the reemergence of competing blocs, and among developing countries about being stuck in the proverbial middle.īut the new U.S.-China bipolarity is a structural fact and can’t just be wished away. This is why former Obama administration Asia-Pacific advisor Evan Medeiros called the November meeting between U.S. In terms of balance of power, the U.S.-China rivalry resembles the Cold War, another antagonism between two superpowers. The U.S.-Chinese rivalry is unique in many ways, and its nature provides us with salient information on the new world order, its stability, and the role that might be played by statesmanship. But to better understand how the new bipolar era might unfold, we must look at its structure: the balance of power, the new system’s origin, and the geographic setting. Ultimately, decisions on war and peace will be made by individual leaders. If the United States’ unipolar power position was the defining feature of the post-Cold War era, the shift to a U.S.-Chinese bipolar power structure will shape a new world order. National Security Strategy issued in October, the Biden administration not only identified China as its most important security challenge, but also declared unequivocally that the post-Cold War era is over. It was turbulent because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the crisis over Taiwan, but it was transformative in the way the United States acknowledged China as a superpower rival. 2022 was arguably the most turbulent and transformative year in international politics since the revolutions of 1989.
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