2 superpowers, 1 playbook: Why Chinese and US bureaucrats think and act alike
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Daniel E. Esser, American University; Heiner Janus, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS); Mark Theisen, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), and Tim Hailer-Röthel, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
(THE CONVERSATION) The year 2025 has not been a great one for U.S.-Chinese relations. Tit-for-tat tariffs and the scramble over rare earth elements has dampened economic relations between the world’s two leading economies. Meanwhile, territorial disputes between China and American allies in the Indo-Pacific region have further deepened the intensifying military rivalry.
This rift has often been portrayed as a clash of opposing ideological systems: democracy versus autocracy; economic liberalism versus state-led...