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The Great Power Delusion: Western Governments and China
Neutrality between China and the US, sidestepping two competing chauvinisms for fear of being crushed in between them, plays into Beijing’s hands.
A recurring tragedy of statecraft is our habit of coining grandiose phrases to obscure our own incompetence. ‘Great Power Competition’, which seeks to characterise tensions between China and the US, is the latest variant on this theme.
Great Power framing is not just a distraction; but a delusion constructed to enable leaders to pretend that problems posed by the rise of the People’s Republic of China somehow are not their problem. It is a familiar refrain among advocates for ‘strategic autonomy’. President Emmanuel Macron, when questioned about Taiwan as he returned from his 2023 visit to Beijing, warned Europe against becoming ‘vassals’ caught in ‘crises that are not ours’. It is a seductive piece of political theatre – neutral, even sophisticated. Indonesia and Malaysia have a more finessed version: ‘active non-alignment’.
But it is fantasy. The reality is that the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not a ‘side’ to be picked in a Washington-led crusade. It is a domestic policy crisis for every sovereign nation on earth. Addressing those challenges is not a choice between two superpowers, but a domestic policy imperative.
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Original article link: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/great-power-delusion-western-governments-and-china
