Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
China’s expansionist nuclear programme aims to bolster its capabilities, so much so, that Beijing's predictions boast 2500 new warheads by 2030, thus rivalling the American and Russian arsenals. As the dragon quadruples its nuclear propensity, heralding the world to something greatly unstable – a tripolar nuclear system; nuclear peace seems a quite convoluted goal.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
The U.S.-China relationship, which has wavered between cooperation and competition, has, over the past few years, veered more sharply towards confrontation – possibly because of China’s own more assertive stance. Now, Beijing’s confidence is under test, not only by these fractious relations, but also COVID-19 and an economic slowdown. Will these factors reveal its weaknesses?
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Although China does not want to usurp the United States’ position as the leader of a global order, its actual aim is nearly as consequential. As one Chinese official put it, “Being a great power means you get to do what you want, and no one can say anything about it.” In other words, China is trying to displace, rather than replace, the United States.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Experts estimate the likelihood of a U.S.-Chinese nuclear crisis as “somewhere between nil and zero.” This assurance is misguided. The United States' signature approach to conventional warfare would be a potential recipe for nuclear escalation.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
The immediate threat is more corrosive than explosive. States are using the tools of cyberwarfare to undermine the very foundation of the Internet: trust. The result is that an arena that the world relies on for economic and informational exchange has turned into an active battlefield.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Beijing and Moscow are close, but not allies. Scholars and journalists in the West find themselves debating the nature of the Chinese-Russian partnership and wondering whether it will evolve into an alliance.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
As China goes global it is making a concerted effort at improving its international image and boosting its soft power. But is this strategy translating into an improvement of its soft power quotient?
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
It is clear by now that China’s economy is set to slow in the years to come, although economists disagree about how much and for how long.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
When the average growth rate in emerging markets hit over seven percent a year in the last decade, forecasters hyped its implications. Today, more than five years after the financial crisis of 2008, the euphoria seems to have waned
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
In the next decade, China will continue to rise, not fade. Its leaders will consolidate the one-party model and, in the process, challenge the West’s smug certainty about political development and the inevitable march toward electoral democracy.