My 200-word summary of similarities & differences from Cold War analogy for US-China relations today was embedded in this column: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
"Along many dimensions, the Cold War analogy distorts more than it illuminates U.S.-China relations today." THREAD
"Along many dimensions, the Cold War analogy distorts more than it illuminates U.S.-China relations today." THREAD
China is a rising power & the second most powerful state in the international system today. But on most measures of power, including military capacity, gross domestic product per capita, higher education or foreign allies, the PRC has a long way to go before catching up to the US
"Yes, Chinese leaders seek to change existing international institutions, but their ambitions to date far outpace their achievements." 3/
"Yes, there is an ideological dimension to U.S.-Chinese competition: Chinese leaders champion their model of autocratic, state-led development as an alternative to liberal democracy." 4/
"But unlike the Soviets, the Chinese Communist Party is not exporting or imposing communism, and it has mostly deployed peaceful means to propagate ideas abroad. The United States and the Soviet Union fought proxy wars all over the world in which millions of people died." 5/
"Thankfully, that feature of the Cold War has no parallel today." 6/
"There nonetheless remains an ideological component to U.S.-China relations today. And on that front, we are slipping." 7/
Im writing a book on lessons from the Cold War for dealing with China, Russia, and Iran today. If you have suggestions for readings, please send my way. 8/ END THREAD
