How the United States Must Handle China and Its Military in the 21st Century

As every day passes China grows stronger in every aspect and eventually they will be knocking on America’s doorstep in each of those categories. Economically, China is closing rapidly, but even the sleeping giant as Napoleon Bonaparte called it, has its limits. To be blunt, China is resource hungry and who knows what their country will do next. With the level of nationalism that their people have, China could go in multiple directions. For example, let us look at both China attempting to exert control over the South China Sea and also with the Senkaku Islands. Both of these areas are becoming more and more hostile, which ultimately could lead to deadly military engagements. With that being said, Blij also proposes an argument that I have been pondering for a while and that is a potential cold war between the U.S.A. and China. On the outside it seems as if there is a potential collision course to that conclusion. However, Blij does offer an interesting solution to this possibility and it is one that I believe should be the strongest takeaway. Blij suggests that trade, scientific, cultural and educational links and exchanges can be the solution to this issue. After all, China is responsible for many of the essential aspects to our life. Therefore, the least we as Americans can do is learn the various geographical aspects that encircle

The program includes initiatives to bolster the national economy and gain global influence through exploiting natural resources, increased missile program, and development of a eugenics program to foster a greater generation (Lieberthal 3). The program is an attempt by China to become a world power by the end of the decade. While China has started developing these programs it is still necessary for them to build a large amount of infrastructure to become a global leader. People that worry about China’s comprehensive national power program fear a slow increase of China’s influence in global conflicts and economic presence. While a slow increase in China’s influence would change the global dynamic, America would remain as a global power. However if war with China and a large selloff of American debt, China would quickly rise to as a global power by reducing America’s economic stability. War with China and a selloff of United States debt would create drastic changes in American stability, and should be of greater concern than China’s comprehensive national power

“As the world digs out from the economic downturn of 2009, it seems that annual growth in global defense spending is back. Total global defense spending is seen increasing 0.6 percent from $1.538 trillion in 2013 to $1.547 trillion in 2014, according to a forecast released Tuesday in London from IHS Jane’s Aerospace, Defence & Security. If the forecast proves accurate, it will be the first time since 2009 that the world grew spending on military hardware and armies since 2009.” (Angelo). While the rise in military spending hasn't really been explained, it doesn't change the fact that worldwide military spending is on the rise. Countries around the world are arming themselves for reasons unknown. Most likely, they're doing to just provide better there nation's security against increasingly dangerous terrorist threats. Now, looking into it deeper we can see the parts of the world that are culprit to the increased military spending. “In 2014, military spending in North America and Western Europe decreased while an increase was shown in Eastern Europe and Asia.” (SIPRI). Now it is true that the US government's spending far exceeds China’s but, the fact is that China is trying to enlarge its military. Is a war coming? Most likely not, but China does want to better its position in the world and the best

A strong military is an important factor of being a global power, other than for national security and deterrence, it also holds considerable coercive diplomatic power, typically through the threat of force (Wagner, 2014). In 2010, US military spending was larger than the next 17 highest budgets combined (The Economist, 2011). However with drastically increased military spending by China and Russia, and further cuts on US defence spending, US advantage in spending is predicted to be reduced to less than twice the Chinese and Russian budgets combined in 2020, down from three and-a-half times in 2011 (Nurkin, 2014). Such trends might be an indication of a reluctance to maintain military hegemony in the face of rising powers. However US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel defends the cuts, noting that the changes seek to address the domestic debt problem with the improbability of conventional wars of attrition in the current global landscape (Connor and Miklaszewski, 2014). The cuts include retiring older platforms, slowing the growth of newer ones, and a general reduction of forces. Importantly, even after the reduction, US forces would still be capable of the traditional wartime scenario of “fighting on two fronts”. Furthermore, the US still enjoys firm superiority in other areas such as technology and training, challenges both China and Russia seek to address (Nurkin,

Slaughter's preface. "...the rise of China as a major economic power has been overall very positive for the U.S. economy and the prosperity and stability of East Asia..." I beg to differ. Recently, as a result of China's expanding economy, there has been growing conflicts between China and the surrounding countries (including Vietnam). This shows how much China is growing, not only in terms of its economy, but also in its influence to other countries. Therefore I believe the United States must still assert its influence (dominance?) in order to maintain stability in the

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cold War was over, making the U.S. the only superpower left in the world. This has made the international system much more tranquil, and relaxed. The only country potentially powerful besides the U.S., is China. Many Americans fear China, not only because they are communist, but also because of their huge population. Their population is 1.3 billion people, which accounts 1/5th of the world’s population. As one of the only potential superpowers in the world, it would be in the best interest of all Americans if the U.S. and China became allies, instead of enemies. Peace and development, economic prosperity and social progress, are goals that both of

During the Cold War the United States had a clear framework that helped guide their foreign policy. Then the idea was to maintain a balance of power between America and the Soviets, and during those days’ by “power” they meant military. Following the fall of the Soviets America emerged as the global hegemon with the largest conventional military in the world. But today with the evolution of technology much has changed. Obama has argued that “This century’s threats are at least as dangerous in some ways more complex than those we have confronted in the past” (Datta, 2015) This is a time for the United States to choose a course to replace the incoherent path we have been on over the last 25 years (Bremmer, 2015). We have the resources, this is a time to renew U.S. leadership in the world and make America great again. In order to accomplish this, the United States needs to create a universal doctrine and focus their foreign policy on working to improve conditions in the Middle East in order to decrease/terminate terrorism worldwide and stop the murder of innocents. Make strides with Russia one of the only other countries with nuclear weapons in order to stabilize and stop nuclear development in Iran and North Korea. Also the U.S. should make an effort to collaborate with China who is emerging as a world power and could soon surpass the U.S. together both countries could do great in the world, all this without neglecting domestic issues and working towards recreation of the

Henry Cabot Lodge- Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was a leader in the fight against participation in the League of Nations

China’s ‘peaceful rise’ policy defined China’s foreign relations strategy since Deng Xiaoping promote the ‘opening up’ philosophy since 1979. China acknowledges the significance of international cooperation and global governance to its economic development, as Barry Buzan observed, ‘China put its own economic development as top priority, and deduced from that the need for stability in its international relations both regionally and globally’. What is more, in 2005, Zheng Bijian wrote that ‘China’s peaceful rise will further open its economy so that its population can serve as a growing market for the rest of the world, thus providing increased opportunities for – rather than posing a threat to – the international

While it is no secret that China seeks to become a great power, her goals are juxtapose to many other nations who sought the same goal over the last century. China is not out to impose an ideology upon the rest of the world as the Soviet Union did, nor does she plan to become a great military-industrial power as did Japan. China’s goals are multi-dimensional and seek slow and steady progress over the long run. In this respect, China is acting more like America: seeking to shape the world to fit its needs, rather than reacting to the world as others shape

American foreign policy has begun to tilt towards defense from Asian threats. According to Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., the navy and the air force desire for the majority of their services to be located in the Asia-Pacific region by 2020. The military desires these modifications in order to control China’s aggressive behavior. In the article “How to Deter China” by Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., he suggests that these changes, along with others, to boost American military are necessary in order to maintain Asian-Pacific peace. However, in order to confirm or deny his accusations, other theories must first be analyzed. Ikenberry’s institutional approach will be analyzed and compared to Krepinevich’s deterrence theory.

The events that have taken place over the past couple of centuries, and more so the past decade, have monumentally impacted the relationship between the United States and China for better and for worse. Today, China and the U.S. have evolved into two of the most elite superpowers in the world, and they classify as some of the most prominent leaders in economics, military, technology, and universal innovation. Currently, the United States is just weeks away from electing their next president, cyber-attacks are being investigated exponentially, and the South China Sea Debate continues to be disputed. The outcomes of all these events will undoubtedly affect the relationship between China and the United States for the next 10 years.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become more integrated and willing to cooperate within the global political and economic systems than ever in its history. However, there is growing apprehension in the Asia-Pacific region and the U.S. in regards to the consequences of rising in economic and military power in China. Descriptions about Chinese diplomacy in the policy and scholarly are less positive lately concerning China’s obedience to regional and international rules. There was little debate in the U.S. and elsewhere in regards to whether China was or was not part “the international community.” Scholars and experts in the early 1990s have contended

Realism assumes that under a balance of power, the overriding aim of all states is to maximize power and become the only hegemony in the system. States only help themselves in the anarchic international system. Therefore, China’s rise is regarded as a disconcerting threat to the U.S.’s primacy of power in the present international stage. The power shift in East Asia is creating security dilemmas; the U.S. thus demands more security to its Asian allies including Philippines, Japan and South Korea. The rapidly-rising Chinese power would inevitably challenge the current international balance of power and appear aggressively in the eyes of weaker power such as the Philippines. Therefore it seeks help to its ally, the U.S., to counterbalance the power of China. China intends to gain more resources and to transform current international order to its favor according to its national interests. The 2010 Chinese White Paper on National Defence states that: “Contradictions continue to surface between developed and developing countries and between traditional

Snyder claims that realism failed to predict the Cold War. Given this, Mearsheimer states “China cannot rise peacefully.” Since realists describe the world as a self-help system, according to Posen, every country “must look to its own interests relative to those of others” and because “security is the preeminent issue in an anarchic world, the distribution of capabilities to attack and defend should matter.” Thus, because China’s strive for regional hegemony inevitably threatens the power dynamic of the global system, the U.S. will, according to Mearsheimer, take an offensive realist approach that will eventually lead to war. In addition, as seen in post-Cold War, economic stability greatly determines the distribution of power. Friedberg notes, that the projected “speed and magnitude of China’s growth in recent decades appears to be unprecedented” and as early as 2015, “China’s economy could overtake that of the United States.” Although the U.S. faces an unprecedented challenge to economic power, according to Ikenberry, China has signaled cooperation by “redoubling its participation in existing institutions, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit or working with the other great powers in the region to build new ones.” Nevertheless, following the actions of the U.S. post WWII, China strategically makes “itself more predictable and approachable” to reduce “the incentives for other