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The Rise of China and the

Future of the WestReview of the Article

Zahra Bhatti

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In the Article: The Rise of China and the Future of the West, G. John

Ikenberry, professor of politics and international affairs explains that the

Chinas rise does not present inevitable battle between east and west.

Global powers can accommodate a changing order and thrive. He writes,

Today's Western order, in short, is hard to overturn and easy to join.

After World War II, the US led in establishing institutions that welcomed

victors and defeated, established powers and newly independent states.

The value of such global institutions is in safeguarding member interests

regardless of status; thus, all member states have good reason to

cooperate and preserve the system. Ikenberry points out that all nations in

a crowded world, including the most powerful, have good reason to

cooperate within global democratic institutions and not splinter off into a

series of competing and contradictory bilateral pacts. He confronts the

currently popular theme of how the U.S. should handle the transition from a

unipolar to a multipolar world, especially the transfer of power to China. He

points out that the current international order (IMF, WTO, etc.) is a Westernorder, and to be successful in the international system a state must

cooperate and integrate with the Western order. Ikenberry argues that the

U.S. must strengthen and improve the multilateral institutions, treating the

rising powers (China, India, Brazil, South Africa) with equality. A sense of

justice must be present in order to let all the states know that they can do

business with each other. It is important to treat the rising states with

equality so when the U.S. loses relative power, they too can be treated with

equality. The U.S. must also avoid any bilateral or minilateral

relationships, in order to set the precedence.

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Many scholars who follow the realist train of thought think that war with

China is inevitable, but Ikenberry argues against that notion. Sure, the

Europeans didnt handle the rising power of Germany so well, and that led

to a World War. But it didnt have to be that way. Not all transfers of power

end in war. The United Kingdom transferred power to the U.S. in the early

decades of the twentieth century peacefully, and the U.S. has seen in fifty

years the rise of Japans GDP grow from 5% of the United States to over

60%, and Japan never threatened the existing international order. If the

West can get the rising powers into the open market Western order now,

dilemmas in the future can be prevented.

He confronts that such an order is in place already. The task now is to

make it so expansive and so institutionalized that China has no choice but

to become a full-fledged member of it. The United States cannot hinder

upon China's rise, but it can support the power of China to be exercised

within the rules and institutions that the United States and its allies have

shaped over the last century. US power may be weakening but its

dominant order can remains for the twenty-first century.He concludes by

saying, The more security and economic relations are multilateral and all-

encompassing, the more the global system retains its coherence.

Most westerners have studied China from upper views meaning that they

do not look the real depth of the arguments. That is why their assumptions

are often incorrect. To understand China the West must consult the China-

hand who is proficient in Chinese Language and also its long history.

Before the present domination of Western Culture beginning in the 16th-

17th Century for most of the time China had been the great power

overlooking the lesser states. This can be seen from the custom to send

tributary to the Emperor of China, which lasted for millenniums.After the

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founding of New China, the nation learned a lot from its humiliations by

foreign powers for the last one hundred years and discovered its

weaknesses. So, the people resolved to eradicate those shortcomings,

even by learning from the West. Also they have overcome the injustice

system of the past, and continuously make improvements.No matters,

China will eventually claim its rightful status in the World. China has

chosen to court Taiwan by economic, political ties and benefits over war.

West underestimates the political influence that China possesses in the

decade to come. China plans to first shake Taiwan's hands, then

exchange business cards, and when the time is ripe, China will offer an

unbeatable contract and buy out Taiwan. Culturally they are both Chinese

people. It will be a checkmate for U.S when China, Taiwan, Japan, and

Korea become united.

The research depends on both the primary and secondary data

observations concerning to the study of Chinas relations with western

society, The author tried to describe the signs of emerging power of the

world mostly in his own point of view and perspectives, geographical the

article provides general argument of western think tank published under the

authorization of U.S Foreign Affairs,Council of Foreign Relation.

The facts and figures presented are relevant to my study of China:

emerging Super power of the world. Somehow the data and arguments

presented in the article are prejudiced as west tried to impose their own

thoughts on the situations, but it surely helps to understand the real figure

of the topic, which I have been working on.