Re-emergence of Great Power Conflict and US Economic Statecraft

After almost two decades of dealing with asymmetric threats, America's strategic focus on technological superiority carefully honed during the Cold War, began to fracture, eroding its military and economic advantage. But China's recent emergence as a credible geopolitical rival has reinvig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWorld trade review Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 152 - 168
Main Author Weiss, Linda
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.05.2021
Subjects
Cold War
Communications satellites
Comparative advantage
Competition
Defense
Five year plans
Geopolitics
Industrial policy
Innovations
Manufacturing
National security
Offshoring
Original Article
Presidents
Technological change
Technology
Threats
UNITED STATES
Beijing China
United States > US
China
Japan
Russia
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Summary:After almost two decades of dealing with asymmetric threats, America's strategic focus on technological superiority carefully honed during the Cold War, began to fracture, eroding its military and economic advantage. But China's recent emergence as a credible geopolitical rival has reinvigorated US efforts to sustain high-tech leadership as the basis of its military primacy. At the center of these efforts are the defense and defense-related agencies of the national security state (NSS) whose mission is to dominate the new technological frontiers of military power and achieve future competitive advantage. Alongside the quest for breakthroughs in foundational technologies, NSS agencies are seeking to correct long neglected deficiencies in advanced manufacturing, by rebuilding the industrial ecosystem's supply chains depleted after decades of offshoring. With this suite of initiatives, the US is following a course of action more consistent with the exercise of (economic) statecraft than industrial policy. However, unlike its authoritarian rival, the US faces the challenge of having to balance security imperatives with commercial interests and, not least, having to contend with a dysfunctional and maladapted presidency.
Bibliography:WORLD TRADE REVIEW, Vol. 20, No. 2, Apr 2021, [152]-168
Informit, Melbourne (Vic)
ISSN:1474-7456
1475-3138
DOI:10.1017/S1474745620000567