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ID:
133588
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Sino-American relationship is arguably the most important bilateral relationship in the world. Whether this relationship remains peaceful or becomes conflictual will have far-reaching economic and political ramifications. For more than two decades, American analysts have been attempting to answer one question: Is China a threat to the United States? The result has been a voluminous collection of data that equally supports contradictory answers. I contend that if we want to understand the probable course of the Sino-American relationship, we need to ask a different question: When and why are Americans likely to perceive China as a threat? This paper reports the results of a social psychological experiment designed to explore the basis of American attitudes toward other states in general and toward China specifically. Contrary to expectations that economic insecurity drives American attitudes toward economic competitors, this study finds that American attitudes toward China are shaped primarily by cultural and institutional judgments. These results contribute to the field of IR by challenging preconceptions about the extent and potential impact of Americans' economic insecurities, by contributing to a nascent constructivist literature that examines how threat is constructed in the national imagination, and by informing how policymakers approach important bilateral relationships.
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| 2 |
ID:
108975
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| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
There is an adage in China '???? (Wú Yuè tóng zhou)', which translates as 'Wu and Yue in the same boat'. This purportedly refers to events during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-221 BC) of the Zhou Dynasty that forced two rival states, the Wu and the Yue, to cooperate in dealing with widespread flooding. The phrase characterizes situations in which adversaries must join forces to overcome a common challenge, and is possibly the etymological foundation of the English phrase 'to be in the same boat'. Certain scholars contend that the axiom exemplifies the political relationship between the United States and China.1
Yan Xuetong has recently introduced in the Chinese Journal of International Politics the genesis of a fruitful discussion that has been carried forward by Alastair Iain Johnston in regard to explaining the Sino-American relationship.2 Essentially, Yan has put forth a theory of 'superficial friendship' wherein he argues that mutually unfavourable interests exceed mutually favourable interests in the Sino-American relationship. This, coupled with high expectations that both nations have in regard to support from one another, engenders the development of a 'superficial friendship'.3 Yan further posits that superficial friendships are unstable relationships that propagate exaggerated highs and lows, which helps to explain why the Sino-American relationship tends to exhibit wild oscillations.
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