A Foreign Policy Analysis of the Sino-US Rivalry in the 21st ‎Century ‎

Abstract

At present, China-US rivalry is a dominant debate in academia as well as in the domains of policymaking. The study of China-US Rivalry is also important as it can prove to be a threat to international peace and security, since this competition between two superpowers is turning into an intense animosity. However, this paper tends to shed lights on the nature of divergent foreign policy goals and objectives of the US, the existing global power, and China, the emerging superpower. It also provides a detailed examination of the scope and direction of this rivalry. For that purpose, this paper is divided into five major parts. First part of this paper is the introduction in which a descriptive theoretical framework is presented to understand the China-US rivalry following the realist paradigm. The second part of this paper is the historical background which presents a brief history of the rise and fall of nations in general, and the rise of the US and China in particular. The third part of this paper is a description about the major areas of the China-US competition. The fourth part of this paper is the prime section of this writing which offers a detailed foreign policy analysis of this rivalry. It unveils different strategies in the foreign policy of both superpowers that generates an animosity between them. Furthermore, this section analyses the role of individual decisionmakers, national ideology, and domestic politics in their divergent foreign policies. Moreover, this part examines the existing and future implications of this intense rivalry. The fifth and the last part of this paper is the conclusion which focuses on the findings of this entire academic assessment.