The Concept of "Managed Сompetition" in US Policy towards China
Автор: Romanov R.R.
Журнал: Власть @vlast
Рубрика: Политика в фокусе
Статья в выпуске: 4 т.33, 2025 года.
Бесплатный доступ
Over the last couple of years, US’ China policy has been undergoing a conceptual overhaul. The growing rivalry along deep economic and cultural ties between two countries motivates American experts searching for possible algorithms for the development of bilateral relations in order to minimize the risk of a military conflict. The concept of managed competition is one of the options. It suggests continuing cooperation in most of the currently «cooperation-open» areas of bilateral relations, while working on the creation of legal mechanisms for further guidance of these. Nevertheless, there are different interpretations of this concept, which makes it difficult for researchers to assess its application by decision-makers in real life. However, the latter is not the main issue bothering the concept from being applied as a framework for Sino-American relations. The complexity lies in basic disagreement between its theoretical foundation and real state of bilateral relations. Managed competition is within itself a concept based on realistic paradigm making security goals and avoiding military conflict its top priorities. In many ways, it reminds of the dynamic in the 1960s and 1970s when the USA and the USSR being the only superpowers established special legal mechanisms guiding arms race and bilateral relations in general. Nevertheless, the confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union was on much higher level than anything yet witnessed between Washington and Beijing. Strong economic ties slow down the pace of military and broader strategic competition. There is no similar level of ideological animosity either. It is also worth noting basic misrepresentation of either’s national interest by counterpart Taiwan being one of the prime examples. While China considers the issue vital for its national security, for the US Taiwan is just one of the several outposts of influence in Asia-Pacific Region. As a result, managed competition remains a long-term goal for Sino-American relations because they have not yet achieved the appropriate level of animosity.
US-China rivalry, foreign policy decision-making, US foreign policy, managed competition, US strategy in Asia-Pacific Region
Короткий адрес: https://sciup.org/170211073
IDR: 170211073