Global economic interdependency and states’ pursuit of self-interest in today’s multi-polar world combine to undermine U.S. efforts at primacy.
Paraphrase of NYTs Helene Cooper’s 26 Nov 2010 article: A fundamental tenet of foreign affairs doctrine holds that sovereign nations will always define and act in their own national interests, and will rarely against their own interests. Somebody needs to tell that to the United States when it comes to China, many foreign policy experts say. A key part of America’s relationship with China now turns on a question that is, at its heart, an interminable conundrum: How to get Beijing to do what its leaders don’t believe are good for their country, but will benefit ours? From economics to climate change to currency to Iran and finally culminating with North Korea last week, America has sought to push, prod and cajole China, to little or no avail.
There are mounting anxieties in Global capital markets over the divergence between China’s economic policies – specifically, its currency exchange rate policies — and the relationship that currency valuation has to a sputtering economic recovery in the rich Western economies.
While it appears that China’s success and emergence is unsettling to many and is becoming the source of American angst toward China, rather than resent the shift of economic power from West to East, we may have something to learn from their ancient civilization.
Popular from Press
