Braun & Blank 17
Ebbighausen & Mearsheimer 20
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| Ebbighausen & Mearsheimer 20 -- Rodion Ebbighausen, reporter, interviewing John J. Mearsheimer, Political Science Professor at the University of Chicago. [Mearsheimer: 'The US won't tolerate China as peer competitor,' 9-23-20, https://www.dw.com/en/chinas-rise-and-conflict-with-us/a-55026173]
John Mearsheimer sees international relations as a "nasty and dangerous business." His theory, "offensive realism," is based on the premise that states are the main actors in international politics and their ultimate goal is survival. As part of the realist school of thought, Mearsheimer believes that the international system is anarchic, and that no state can know the intention of another with certainty. This uncertainty drives states to maximize their power and security and achieve dominance to preempt challenges from other states. Becoming a global hegemon today is nearly impossible. And therefore, states rather seek to dominate as regional hegemons. Mearsheimer concluded in 2001 that China's strategic goal was to become Asia's hegemon and that the United States would try to prevent that. His book, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, predicted many things we see today in US-China relations. Both countries consider the other as a primary threat. China has become a regional hegemon in Asia, and is building military capacity to back this up. Southeast and East Asian nations are spending more and more money on defense, and are under pressure to choose a side — either China or the US. DW asked Mearsheimer about how this rivalry could develop further — and what that means for Asia and the world. DW: Under President Xi Jinping, China's approach to projecting its power has become more aggressive. Will China confront the US in the near future? John Mearsheimer: I think, from China's point of view, it's best not to confront the US in any serious way right now. China will be in a much better position to confront the US in 20 years. But two factors are pushing China towards aggression. One, it is almost impossible for any country as it grows more powerful, not to become somewhat more aggressive in its foreign policy. This is exactly what's happening with China. A lot of people like to blame it on Xi Jinping, but I don't think it's his personality or his interests that really matter here. He inherited a China that's much more powerful than it was in the 1990s. And he can throw his weight around in ways that his predecessors could not. The second factor is that China's neighbors and the US are pushing back. The US began to contain China regionally with the 2011 pivot to Asia. This created a spiral mechanism that is now in play: the Americans and their Asian allies are pushing back against China, and China is responding. You mentioned the pivot to Asia. How serious was this engagement by the US? Many Southeast Asian countries feel they have been left to fend for themselves? I think there's no question that, when former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the pivot to Asia in 2011, the US was just beginning to think about containing China. During the Barack Obama presidency, not much was done. But, since Donald Trump became US president, there's no question the US is pursuing an ambitious containment policy that goes beyond containment. The US has tried to roll back China's economy, it is targeting China's technology sector. The bottom line here is that the US does not tolerate peer competitors. Some argue that the US cannot stop China from becoming a regional hegemon. It may be true in 40 years that China's power relative to the US means China cannot be stopped from becoming a regional hegemon. But I doubt that it will be the final outcome. There's every reason to think that the US will be able to contain China for the foreseeable future. The precedent of territorial concessions to Russia in the Arctic causes Chinese aggressions and Asia WarDownload 124.37 Kb. Share with your friends:
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