The Elements of the China Challenge: Reading the Trump Administration’s China Policy Testament

Between 2017 and 2021 Donald Trump’s administration published over a dozen strategic documents on China among which The Elements of the China Challenge seems to stand out as it outlines a longer perspective and sketches a wider framework for US policy towards China. This paper attempts to examine the major assumptions of The Elements, arguing that by putting forward an anti-imperialist rhetoric, the American policy-makers want to emphasize the systemic differences with China, the importance of which have long been underplayed by Western policy-makers who have given precedence to economic considerations. However, the analysis also gives weight to the argument that the strong ideological appeal in The Elements is also intended to mobilize the American allies, anchor them to the leader of the “free world,” and reduce their tendencies to cooperate with China, including in 5G technology as in the case of Central and Eastern Europe.

The ‘Chinese Dream’ or the ‘American Nightmare’: Where Did the U.S.-China Relations Come in Three Decades

The bulk of academic studies characterize the contemporary U.S. – China relations as asymmetrical ones, in which the relations' agenda − a course towards finding areas of cooperation or emphasizing contradictions/rivalry − was set by Washington's policy towards China, with the latter being more of a reacting party. In this paper, I argue that one needs a further and deeper reflection on the current confrontation between the U.S. and China, in particular the reasons and circumstances of how and why the “Chinese dream” of a remarkable renaissance of the Chinese nation became an American nightmare, forcing Washington to opt for a containment policy against China. In this regard, I show the importance of tracing the dynamics of the post-Cold War development of the U.S. – China relations to comprehend the patterns and logic of the shaping of American policy towards China. The article also explains the evolution of U.S. – China relations in the post-Cold War period as determined by the presence or absence of a strategic basis in the U.S. – China relations, which implies cooperation between the two countries in stopping the external existential threat to the U.S. So, I conclude that the uniqueness of the current stage lies in the fact that, because of China's emergence as a strong global power and Washington's disillusions about China, China itself is beginning to be perceived by Washington as an existential threat, to stop which the containment policy should be applied.

Review of Politics of Empowerment: Disability Rights and the Cycle of American Policy Reform by David Pettinicchio

No abstract available.