The economy-security conundrum in American grand strategy: foreign economic policy toward China from Obama to Biden

Abstract

This article argues that in a Janus-faced Liberal International Order, American grand strategy faces an economy-security conundrum. Tensions between transnational economic networks and national security concerns require different administrations to square a balance between important yet competing interests. This conundrum is especially challenging for Washington, D.C., when dealing with China. Indeed, while the Chinese and the American economies are interdependent, China continues to rise, with revisionist demands, and outside of the US-led system of alliances. The economy-security conundrum is managed by different presidents who pursue similar long-term objectives but through different approaches, leading to both strategic continuity and policy changes between one administration and the next. Former US President Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, subsequent President Donald Trump’s trade war, and President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better World (B3W)—most recently rebranded as Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII)—are indeed different policies, but all are aimed at either compelling China to abide the free-market rule of law or to separate from the West, especially regarding strategic and future industries.