China’s rise and the United States’ response: implications for the global order and New Zealand/Aotearoa. Part II: The US response, emergence of a multi-polar order, and New Zealand/Aotearoa foreign policy-making

Abstract

ABSTRACT China’s rise is reconfiguring the global order as it develops into the world’s second most powerful nation-state and becomes an increasingly serious threat to US global hegemony. In Part Two of this article, the US response to China’s rising economic, geopolitical, and military power is analysed with a focus on Obama’s ‘pivot towards Asia’, Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, and Biden’s comprehensive strategy to ‘out-compete’ China. These developments have important implications for Aotearoa as governments walk a tight rope between increasing economic dependence on China and traditional security, military, and diplomatic relationships with Australia, the UK, and the US. In contrast to realist analyses of New Zealand’s foreign policy responses, which are largely anti-China and advocate closer ties to the US, this article is equally critical of both imperialist powers, and argues for a shift towards non-alignment and neutrality in future conflicts.