China-Noko Relations Dead/omnibus Card
China-Noko Relations Dead/omnibus Card
China-Noko Relations Dead/omnibus Card
China rise will reduce American hegemony, but its rise will
strengthen the liberal international order
Ikenberry and Lim 17 G. JOHN IKENBERRY, Albert G. Milbank Professor of
Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University in the Department of Politics
and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is also Co-
Director of Princetons Center for International Security Studies. Ikenberry is also a
Global Eminence Scholar at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea, AND DARREN J.
LIM, Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National
University, PhD 2015 from Princeton Universitys Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs. Brookings Institution, April 2017, Chinas emerging
institutional statecraft The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the prospects
for counter-hegemony, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2017/04/chinas-emerging-institutional-statecraft.pdf, VM
more so than past rising great powers, China faces an
In this paper we argue that
international order that is highly institutionalized, with layers of global and regional
multilateral regimes and institutions, many of which are liberal in character and tied
to American leadership. In this context, we motivated this paper with two key questions: first, how can
rising states use international institutions, in particular new institutions, to advance their interests? And second, to
what extent does the specific creation of new institutions embody a counter-hegemonic logic, potentially
challenging the liberal international order and the institutions that sustain it? In sum, what is the logic of Chinas
institutional statecraft? In this final section we consider the policy implications of our argument, before turning to
how a shift of U.S. policy under President Donald Trump may affect our findings. We identified a spectrum of choices
or strategies that a rising state might adopt as it faces existing institutions operating within a given policy domain.
The purpose of this typology was to outline a distinct set of possibilities to anchor analysis of a rising states
institutional statecraft and the choices, interactions, and bargains it will make, given its opportunities, constraints,
and trade-offs. To answer the second question, we examined the AIIB as a specific case of what we term external
innovation, and sought to understand how the AIIB provides both opportunities for and constraints on Chinas
pursuit of its national interests, focusing our attention in particular on the institutions counter-hegemonic potential .
Based on this analysis, we concluded that evidence of the AIIBs operation is
trending in favor of the existing order, suggesting that the constraints on counter-
hegemonic institutional statecraft are effective. In both its formal design and initial
operations, the AIIB looks very similar to the ADB and the World Bank, likely due to
pressure from Western members (as discussed above ). Moreover, in early
operations, the operational need to satisfy financial markets is acknowledged by
Chinese officials as imposing a strict discipline. The net impact of the AIIB is
therefore more likely to be a strengthening of the rules, practices, and norms within
this policy domain, even if the formal authority of the United States is somewhat
diluted. This conclusion yields several policy implications. First, some of Chinas
moves in the institutional arena are to be welcomed because on net they will likely
affirm the liberal character of the international order. Trying to block Chinas effortsnotably
Washingtons skepticism of the AIIBwill thus be counterproductive and likely fail anyway, particularly when allied
states are not on board. The point is that institution-building that embraces multilateral and market mechanisms is
The cost to the established powers may be a reduction in their overall
a positive thing.
institutional authority, but the benefits might well include a China that is more
deeply embedded into the existingalbeit expanded and reformedinternational
order. The voice and authority conferred by institutional leadership will help coopt
China, shape its choices, and, as a rising state, afford China ways to signal restraint
and status quo intentions. Second, even as Chinas institution-building initiatives should be embraced, in
each case those actors broadly supportive of the status quo must carefully identify Chinas objectives and
constraints, and work together to address specific concerns with the rules, practices, and norms embodied in new
institutions. There will be instances where Chinese interests are at odds with the liberal character of the status quo,
and other states and institutional actors must make judgments on whether and how to resist (or accommodate) the
emergence of alternative approaches. It will accordingly be useful to establish some markers of when Chinese
moves are compatible with international best practices and global standards and when they are not. This
information alone will be useful in making the case that departures from the status quo bring real costs for other
states, and may need to be opposed. Our argument that the challenge posed by the AIIB is exaggerated
nevertheless risks obscuring the more fundamental threats to the legitimacy and cohesiveness of the existing order
posed not by Chinas institutional statecraft, but by the dramatic shifts in domestic politics within the Western
founders of the liberal international order, exemplified by the election of Donald Trump and the United Kingdoms
vote to leave the European Union.77 How might the foreign policies of the Trump administration in particular affect
the efficacy of Chinas institutional statecraft? The new president has expressed strong skepticism of multilateralism
and international institutions as means to secure U.S. interests .
Trump appears to see trade deals as
inherently adversarial and zero-sum,78 the United Nations system as ineffective
and in need of comprehensive reform,79 and has even questioned the ongoing
relevance of the U.S. alliance network, including NATO.80 These sentiments portend
a United States that is far less willing to lend its still-significant resources, both
material and ideational, in defense of the liberal international order and the
institutions that form part of the orders foundational structure. It is difficult to
imagine a more favorable scenario for a rising power wishing to reshape the
international system. Yet as we argue above, it is also true that to a great extent
China is already a supportive stakeholder, accepting many of the rules, practices,
and norms of liberal internationalism and, for the most part, does not wish to
assume the burdens of leadership from the United States . Particularly in the realm of
international trade, China has benefitted handsomely from the development of the
WTO regime, and would likely suffer major losses from a global return to
protectionism or any other policies that harmed global economic growth. 81
Accordingly, it may be in Beijings interest to play a greater role in underwriting
certain aspects of the status quo , whether through enhanced participation,
authority, and support of existing institutions, or through external innovation via
new institutions that are consistent with liberal principles . Early evidence of this is already
emerging in the trade domain, with Chinese President Xi Jinping moving quickly following Trumps election to
position China as a free trade champion in speeches at the APEC forum in November 2016 and the World Economic
Forum in January 2017.82 In particular, Beijing hopes to oversee the successful completion of the China-led RCEP.83
Where it continues to offer benefits, Beijing could ironically become one of the
biggest defenders of the status quo. The flipside, however, is that where China views the institutional
framework as harmful to its interests, strategies of institutional statecraft at odds with the current order will have
greater prospects of success in the absence of any attempt to counter by Washington. This could include
obstructing the operation of existing institutions, ignoring them, or opposing them outright. It may also mean the
building of rival institutions operating under radically different principles, albeit subject to the constraints outlined in
the previous section.