Thread by @thomaswright08

One of the most imp emerging debates in US foreign policy at the moment is whether the US is in a competition of government systems w/ China, (or as Jake Sullivan put it on Monday, "a competition of models w/ autocracies"). I wrote about this on Wednesday. theatlantic.com/international/…

@jessicacweiss & @TomPepinsky have an important critique of President Biden's approach today, arguing that the administration should reverse itself on the competition of systems concept. foreignaffairs.com/articles/unite…

I recommend you read the whole piece but to me the key line is "a world safe for autocracy does not preclude a world safe for democracy." Jessica & Tom argue that China does not proactively seek to advance its governance model & is pragmatic in how it deals with other countries.

My response is that the flaw in this argument is it ignores negative externalities. China's actions have an effect even if it is intended or not-- on exporting the technologies of repression to Nigeria, on unconditional loans fueling corruption, & on attempts to censor criticism

That's what the Biden admin is concerned about. If we don't address externalities then the two sides of the debate are just talking past each other. The article also interestingly does not mention Australia where a lot of this is playing out. It is not that China is trying...

....to make Australia an autocracy but it is trying to shape and constrain its democracy and governance system. Australians are pushing back. One final point, Jessica and Tom argue that framing US-China relations in this way "creates a permissive environment for xenophobia"

But framing relations as a competition of governance systems can prevent & tackle xenophobia. This type of competition is not between nations and peoples as a more realist or Trumpian approach might put it, which is certainly a recipe for nationalism.

Finally, emphasizing democracy puts a huge onus on the US and other democracies to live up to our own values and principles, which include fighting racism and discrimination.

The question about how we conceptualize competition is an important & substantive debate that is now well underway. The Biden administration will have an opportunity to unpack its "competition of models" approach in its National Security Strategy, expected later this year.