Overview

How the U.S. policy of competition with China is detrimental to democracy, peace, and prosperity—and how a saner approach is possible For close to a decade, the U.S. government has been preoccupied with the threat of China, fearing that the country will ""eat our lunch,"" in the words of Joe Biden. The United States has crafted its foreign and domestic policy to help constrain China's military power and economic growth. Van Jackson and Michael Brenes argue that great-power competition with China is misguided and vastly underestimates the costs and risks that geopolitical rivalry poses to economic prosperity, the quality of democracy, and, ultimately, global stability. This in-depth assessment of the trade-offs and pitfalls of protracted competition with China reveals how such a policy exacerbates inequality, leads to xenophobia, and increases the likelihood of violence around the world. In addition, it distracts from the priority of addressing such issues as climate change while at the same time undercutting democratic pluralism and sacrificing liberty in the name of prevailing against an enemy ""other."" Jackson and Brenes provide an informed and urgent critique of current U.S. foreign policy and a road map toward a saner, more democratically accountable strategy of easing tension and achieving effective diplomacy.

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Reviews

“The speed with which ‘great power competition’ with China has become the new obsession in Washington foreign policy circles is both amazing and alarming. Jackson and Brenes perform a service by slamming the brakes on that, showing with rigor and clarity that the logic of strategic competition won’t lead us to greater global security and prosperity, but to more conflict and insecurity.”—Matt Duss, executive vice president, Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders “The Rivalry Peril is an original book, essential for everyone to read who is interested in U.S.-China relations and the U.S. position in the world. Deeply researched and well-written, this is an important book that directly challenges the conventional wisdom in America’s foreign policy establishment.”—David C. Kang, University of Southern California

“The speed with which ‘great power competition’ with China has become the new obsession in Washington foreign policy circles is both amazing and alarming. Jackson and Brenes perform a service by slamming the brakes on that, showing with rigor and clarity that the logic of strategic competition won’t lead us to greater global security and prosperity, but to more conflict and insecurity.”—Matt Duss, executive vice president, Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders

“The speed with which ‘great power competition’ with China has become the new obsession in Washington foreign policy circles is both amazing and alarming. Jackson and Brenes perform a service by slamming the brakes on that, showing with rigor and clarity that the logic of strategic competition won’t lead us to greater global security and prosperity, but to more conflict and insecurity.”—Matt Duss, executive vice president, Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders “The Rivalry Peril is an original book, essential for everyone to read who is interested in U.S.-China relations and the U.S. position in the world. Deeply researched and well written, this is an important book that directly challenges the conventional wisdom in America’s foreign policy establishment.”—David C. Kang, University of Southern California “‘Winning the competition with China should unite all of us,’ President Biden told the nation. But it won’t, Michael Brenes and Van Jackson argue in this powerful book. Rivalry with China, they contend, has already failed to heal America’s divisions and promises to widen them further, while giving China reasons to act more aggressively, not less, on the world stage. You won’t look at U.S.-China rivalry the same way again.”—Stephen Wertheim, author of Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy

Author Information

Van Jackson is a senior lecturer in international relations at Victoria University of Wellington and a senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy. He lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Michael Brenes is the co-director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and lecturer in history at Yale University, and a senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy. He lives in Hamden, CT.

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