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Partners and Rivals
The Uneasy Future of China’s Relationship with the United States
In Partners and Rivals, Dobson lays bare the relationship between the two biggest powers in global politics: the United States and China. She describes the consequences of China’s meteoric rise to power, and the inevitable tensions it has created. But she also offers advice that both the United States and China would do well to follow – for the good of the whole world.
- Anybody interested in world politics and international relations
- Anybody wishing to understand the state of economic affairs in China
- All US and Chinese citizens.
Wendy Dobson is an acclaimed Canadian economist and co-director of the Institute for International Business at the University of Toronto. She has served as Canadian Associate Deputy Minister of Finance, and has published multiple books on Asia and the international economy.
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Partners and Rivals
The Uneasy Future of China’s Relationship with the United States
- Read in 15 minutes
- Contains 9 key ideas
Synopsis
In Partners and Rivals, Dobson lays bare the relationship between the two biggest powers in global politics: the United States and China. She describes the consequences of China’s meteoric rise to power, and the inevitable tensions it has created. But she also offers advice that both the United States and China would do well to follow – for the good of the whole world.
Key idea 1 of 9
Over the last few decades, China has become a new global superpower.
When the financial crisis hit the world in 2008, whole countries were plunged into despair and frustration – but not China. In fact, the collapse of the developed economies allowed China to rise to new heights of economic and political power.
And now, China is about to become the world’s most powerful economy.
The 2000s were China’s decade. During that period, the United States, Japan and Germany all went through slumps, their annual growth rate seldom rising above two percent, while China's economy continuously grew at a staggering rate of ten percent.
Even before the financial crisis, specialists were predicting that China would overtake the United States as the world’s biggest economy by 2041. But due to the crumbling financial markets and debt explosion of the 2008 collapse, it is now believed that China will overtake the United States by 2026.
China is also taking a frontline position in world trade. Its $2 trillion trade with its top six trading partners takes up eight percent of total international trade. And here begins our US–China saga: the United States is the country’s most important market by far, with as much as 18 percent of all US imports coming from China.
Now China is turning this economic weight into political influence.
In response to the financial crisis, the entire global community came together to seek solutions. With that purpose in mind, the Western-dominated G7 was replaced by the G20 summit of the biggest 20 economies. This enabled China, which had previously been sidelined, to take a leading role in directing global economic policy. And recently China has increased their influence over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – one of the most important financial institutions in the world – currently holding the third highest voting rights in the organization.
Key ideas in this title
- Over the last few decades, China has become a new global superpower.
- Although China has grown to a position of dominance, it needs to reform its economy if it wants to stay there.
- China’s one child policy and its resistance to urbanization are threatening long-term growth.
- To prevent the country from falling into crisis, China requires serious institutional reforms.
- China has taken an ambivalent role in the international political system.
- Current US–China perceptions are dangerous for global peace.
- The United States and China need to take major steps toward creating a cooperative relationship.
- The two superpowers should work together to solve major global and regional issues.
- Final summary
