Emerging Powers and the Post-Liberal World Flashcards
What arguments can be made to challenge the notion of China as a centrally organised state?
China is allegedly increasingly decentralising decision making away from the leadership of the CCP. Broad ideas are created by leadership and left to provincial level secretaries to interpret and decide upon.
What are examples of Chinese policies and broad initiatives created by the CCP?
China has created policies of the ‘China Dream’ and the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ that are interpreted at a lower level and acted upon outside of remit of party leadership.
What was Fukuyama’s thesis in his ‘End of History’ argument?
Fukuyama believed that the collapse of the USSR and China’s move towards capitalism represented the fall of Communism and the victory of a liberal, western, capitalist, democratic order. He also saw an end to class struggle through liberal principles.
How has Fukuyama’s thesis fared over time?
Fukuyama’s thesis has been shown to be inaccurate and wide of the mark - while communism has not been resurgent, the clash between democracy and authoritarianism is still pronounced in the world. It is also apparent that class struggles have not been stamped out by liberalism.
Explain the argument that China are the world’s ‘new colonialists’
China have long been described as the ‘new colonialists’ of the world as a result of their ‘Belt and Road Initiative’. This aims to provide infrastructure projects to the rest of the world to allow extraction of resources from these countries and provide for the Chinese economy.
What arguments can be made about the Belt and Road Initiative being a positive move by the Chinese government?
Belt and Road has allowed critical infrastructure to be built in developing nations, whereas Western aid has been piecemeal. Furthermore, countries invested in by China are supposedly fully aware of Chinese state involvement in initiatives - they are not blind to this.
What arguments can be made against Belt and Road being a positive move by the Chinese government?
Belt and Road is ultimately designed to fuel the Chinese economy, allowing extractive measures to harness resources in Africa. This is not designed to benefit local populations. There are also concerns that these schemes are entrapping African countries in debt, as well as benefiting states with negative human rights records.
What issues were there with Chinese involvement in the UK recently?
The UK had agreed an arrangement for Huawei to build the UK’s 5G infrastructure, yet this was abandoned over fears to national security due to China’s perceived involvement with Huawei as a company. Decision pushed by the US govt.
What issues have there recently been with Chinese involvement in the US?
The US has recently passed legislation to ban TikTok over fears that China can access data from the app, forcing the company owning it to sell its US operations within a year. This again shows concerns about the creep of China into other countries.
Explain Mearsheimer’s arguments about the cause of the Russia-Ukraine war
John Mearsheimer believes that the Russia-Ukraine war is primarily caused by Russia feeling threatened by the notion of NATO expansion. He sees Russia as responding to Western provocation, and is hence justified in its actions to defend itself, in the logic of Offensive Realism.
How is Russia still projecting influence today? Is this influence ‘real’?
Russia is a shrinking economic power, dwarfed by new giants and developing economies. It manages to project its influence today through its military activity, oil production and nuclear weapon possession.
How can the political dimension of China’s rise as a post-Liberal power be seen?
China has begun to impose itself on Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms, taking control of aspects of government there and limiting freedom of speech. It is seeping into this neighbouring territory and undermining the Western values which Hong Kong is based upon.
How can the strength of the post-liberal world be seen through the West’s continued involvement with Russia and China?
The west is having to pragmatically engage with China due to its economic strength (such as the UK holding its nose to HR concerns), while Russian sanctions are porous enough that they can be circumvented by various companies and states wishing to do so for economic gain. A hollow sanctions order represents that Russian value to the world is undeniable.
What evidence is there of Western resistance to the idea of the post-Liberal world? How is this limited?
Western countries have refused to cooperate with the likes of Russia and China over their illiberal policies and actions, such as Germany cancelling Nordstream 2 and the UK cancelling Huawei’s involvement in its 5G networks. This is limited, however, as it damages the countries withdrawing from these deals, while the providers (Russia and China) will still do business with other countries.
What arguments are there for the reasons behind China’s Belt and Road initiative?
China has arguably undertaken the Belt and Road initiative either to involve itself more in geopolitics and become more influential, to maximise the profit of its SOEs and companies, or grow its significance to the global economy in developing countries.
