Partners Or Adversaries? US-China Relations In The Era Of Trump

In the golden age of podcasting, it might come as a surprise that I recommend an hour-long lecture at the London School of Economics here. But bear with me and with Michael Mastanduno's in-depth exploration of the current state of US-China relations in the Trump era, and I promise it will give you a more nuanced perspective on the topic, as you move to consume upcoming news about the tense relationship between both global powers.

Mastanduno is the inaugural Susan Strange Professor of International Relations at LSE. In his speech, he argues the US and China struck a "grand bargain" at the end of the Cold War, which guaranteed stability and somewhat amicable cooperation between both countries. 

In essence, the bargain entailed the US accommodating China's growth and enabling its population to improve its standard of living. By offering it a place in the global commerce and investment system which it controls, the US expected the rising power to become its natural ally and adopt a large part of its policy agenda, much like Japan or Germany did in the Post-WWII era. 

At this point, you probably guessed what happened: Things did not go as planned. China both grew beyond what anyone expected, and it did not adopt a liberal internationalist agenda. Rather, it came up with its own vision of global order and has successfully pushed to make it a reality.

Rather than overtly challenging the US leadership in a military or diplomatic conflict, however, China has instead opted for filling the vacuum left by the US in multiple arenas, from trade and investment to climate policy. Most recently, it has become a regional rule-maker, as made clear in the One Belt, One Road Initiative (See Piq from May 2017). But as Donald Trump's administration seems only willing to accelerate the great unravelling of the US-Sino bargain from days past, we are in for uncertain times. Anyone seeking to understand this changing relationship will gain from listening to this podcast episode.