How China Divides Europe and the United States
The preeminent foreign policy question facing the West for at least the next several decades will be what to do about China’s rise as a techno-economic, military, and foreign policy power. But as things stand, Western leaders cannot even agree on the premise of the matter.
Writing in Limes, an Italian geopolitical magazine, Rob Atkinson explains that the prevailing view in much of Europe is that China is a rapidly developing country—and a large market for exports—that is being held to unfair standards by the West and the global institutions it dominates. Whereas, the prevailing view in many U.S. policy circles is that China is a neo-Leninist nation seeking global hegemony through a predatory strategy of innovation mercantilism that focuses on advanced technologies and industries.
Atkinson argues European leaders are dreaming if they do not believe that Chinese techno-economic policies are focused on taking global market share from the EU. And they are being obtuse by refusing to accept that U.S. efforts to challenge China protect not just America, but also Europe. Indeed, the benefits are likely greater for the EU.
