Abstract
In 2017–2020, the EU faced three great geopolitical challenges. Under Donald Trump, the U.S. turned against the norms, rules, and institutions of the rules-based international order that formed the bedrock of transatlantic relations for decades. At the same time, China turned a more authoritarian turn at home and a more assertive approach. And the U.S.–China relations nose-dived into a general trade, technology, and security contest in the wake of strong U.S. moves. The Biden administration has generally committed to continuing the confrontational approach to China, albeit in altered form. This chapter focuses on the impact of these trends on the EU strategic decisions toward China and EU–China relations. I argue that the EU has developed a triple response to this challenge: multilateral reinforcement, Cold War avoidance, and complex balancing. The EU is seeking a middle road, increasingly cooperating with China on a range of global topics, while seeking U.S. support to constrain threatening dimensions of China’s power or economic policy. This approach has to overcome a growing clash between EU economic interests and EU values and security position and has not reached a stable equilibrium yet.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akerlof, G. A., & Snower, D. J. (2016). Bread and bullets. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 126-B, 58–71.
Alexandroff, A., Bradford, C., & Tiberghien, Y. (2020). Toward ‘effective multilateralism’ in turbulent times. Global Solutions Journal, 5, 54–60. https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GSJ5_Alexandroff_Bradford_Tiberghien.pdf.
Baldwin, R. (2019). The globotics upheaval: Globalization, robotics, and the future of work. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Blustein, P. (2019) Schism: China, America and the fracturing of the global trading system. Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Borrell, J. (2020, April 30). The post-coronavirus world is already here. Policy Brief. https://www.ecfr.eu/page/-/the_post_coronavirus_world_is_already_here.pdf.
Brown, K. (2018). The world according to Xi: Everything you need to know about New China. I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.
Calder, K. E. (2019). Super continent: The logic of Eurasian integration. Stanford University Press.
Dervis, K. (2016). Reflections on progress essays on the global political economy. Brookings Institution Press.
Economy, E. C. (2018). The third revolution: Xi Jinping and the new Chinese state. Oxford University Press.
European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (2019, March 12). European commission and HR/VP contribution to the European Council: EU-China—A strategic outlook. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/communication-eu-china-a-strategic-outlook.pdf.
Falkner, R. (2000). Regulating biotech trade: The cartagena protocol on biosafety. International Affairs, 76(2), 299–313.
Falkner, R. (Ed.) (2006). The international politics of genetically modified food: Diplomacy, trade and law. Palgrave Macmillan.
Frankopan, P. (2019). The new silk roads: The present and future of the world. Alfred A. Knopf.
Fukuyama, F. (2018). Identity: The demand for dignity and the politics of resentment. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Haass, R. (2017). A world in disarray: American foreign policy and the crisis of the old order. Penguin Press.
Hathaway, O. A., & Shapiro, S. J. (2017). The internationalists: How a radical plan to outlaw war remade the world. Simon and Schuster.
Ikenberry, G. J. (2001). After victory: Institutions, strategic restraint, and the rebuilding of order after major wars. Princeton University Press.
Ikenberry, G. J. (2011). Liberal leviathan: The origins, crisis, and transformation of the American world order. Princeton University Press.
Borrell, J. Embracing Europe’s power. (2020, February 8). Project Syndicate. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/embracing-europe-s-power-by-josep-borrell-2020-02?barrier=accesspaylog.
Johnston, A. I. (2019). China in a world of orders: Rethinking compliance and challenge in Beijing’s international relations. International Security, 44(2), 9–60.
Kagan, R. (2003). Of paradise and power: America and Europe in the new world order. Alfred A. Knopf; Distributed by Random House.
Kagan, R. (2018). The jungle grows back: America and our imperiled World. Alfred A. Knopf.
Khanna, P. (2019). The future is Asian: Commerce, conflict, and culture in the 21st century. Simon & Schuster.
King, S. D. (2017). Grave new world: The end of globalization, the return of history. Yale University Press.
Kuttner, R. (2018). Can democracy survive global capitalism? W.W. Norton & Company.
Laïdi, Z. (2008). La Norme Sans la Force L’énigme de la Puissance Européenne. Sciences Po les presses.
Mazarr, M. J., Heath, T. R., & Cevallos, A. S. (2018). China and the international order. Rand Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2423.html.
McGregor, R. (2019). Xi Jinping: The backlash. Lowy Institute/Penguin.
Mearsheimer, J. J. (2018). The great delusion: Liberal dreams and international realities. Yale University Press.
Mearsheimer, J. J. (2019). Bound to fail: The rise and fall of the liberal international order. International Security, 43(4), 7–50.
Milanovic, B. (2016). Global inequality: A new approach for the age of globalization. Harvard University Press.
Minzner, C. (2018). End of an era: How China’s authoritarian revival is undermining its rise. Oxford University Press.
Osterholm, M. T., & Olshaker, M. (2020, May 21). Chronicle of a pandemic foretold: Learning from the COVID-19 failure—Before the next outbreak arrives. Foreign Affairs.
Ren, X. (2012). A reform-minded status quo power? China, the G20, and changes in the international monetary system, RCCPB Working Paper #25: Indiana University—Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business.
Rifkin, J. (2004). The European dream: How Europe’s vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the American dream. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
Rodrik, D. (2011). The globalization paradox: Democracy and the future of the world economy. W. W. Norton & Co.
Sarsenbayev, M., & Veron, N. (2020). European versus American perspectives on the belt and road initiative. China & World Economy, 28(2), 84–112.
Schreurs, M. A., & Tiberghien, Y. (2007). Multi-level reinforcement: Explaining European union leadership in climate change mitigation. Global Environmental Politics, 7(4), 19–46.
Shambaugh, D. L. (2016). China’s future. Polity.
Shiller, R. J. (2019). Narrative economics: How stories go viral & drive major economic events. Princeton University Press.
Stiglitz, J. E. (2012). The price of inequality: How today’s divided society endangers our future. W.W. Norton & Co.
Telo, M. (2005). The concept of ‘civilian power’ in the light of the constitutional evolution of the European Union. In T. Ueta & E. Remacle (Eds.), Japan and enlarged Europe: Partners in global governance (pp. 47–56). P.I.E.-Peter Lang.
Tiberghien, Y. (2009). Transitional competitive governance and agenda-setting in the eu: The battle over the regulation of gmos since the mid-1990s. Journal of European Integration, 31(3), 389–407.
Tiberghien, Y. (Ed.) (2013). Leadership in global institution building: Minerva’s rule. Palgrave MacMillan.
Tiberghien, Y. (2017). Fostering bold and innovative ideas for urgent global challenges: The v20 contribution to the g20 during the China-German transition. Global Summitry: Politics, Economics and Law in International Governance, 3(1), 27–44.
Tiberghien, Y. (2018). Chinese global climate change leadership and its impact. In A. Amighin (Ed.), China: Champion of (which) globalisation? (pp. 101–120). Ledizioni Ledi Publishing (ISPI).
Tiberghien, Y. (2019). A key message from the Paris peace forum: Defusing cross-national misperceptions and advancing inclusive global governance. Global Solutions Journal 4 (March), 312–318. https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/gsj_4_e-mag_1198.pdf.
Tiberghien, Y., Alexandroff, A., Bradford, C., Beilmann, S., & Koh, T. (2018). New narratives: 2018 VISION20—Brookings Blue Paper, V. 20. UBC. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1bfab0_b890206ff23d4491b5dc1169f711bd7b.pdf.
Tiberghien, Y., Alexandroff, A., Bradford, C., Koh, T., Martin, A., Schoepl, N., & Sluga, K. (2019). Effective multilateralism: 2019 VISION20—Brookings blue report, V. 20. UBC. https://www.thevision20.org.
Tonby, O., Woetzel, J., Choi, W., Eloot, K., Dhawan, R., Seong, J., & Wang, P. (2019). The future of Asia: Asian flows and networks are defining the next phase of globalization. Discussion Paper: McKinsey Global Institute. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/asia-pacific/the-future-of-asia-asian-flows-and-networks-are-defining-the-next-phase-of-globalization.
Tooze, A. (2018) Crashed: How a decade of financial crises changed the world. Viking.
Vogel, D. (2001). The regulation of GMOs in Europe and the United States: A case-study of contemporary European regulatory politics. Publication of the Study Group on Trade, Science and Genetically Modified Foods. Council on Foreign Relations.
Vogel, D. (2002). Ships passing in the night: GMOs and the politics of risk regulation in Europe and the United States. Working Paper: INSEAD.
Wagner, G., & Weitzman, M. (2015). Climate shock: The economic consequences of a hotter planet. Princeton University Press.
Wallace, H., Wallace, W., & Pollack, M. A. (2005). Policy-making in the European Union. Oxford University Press.
Wallace-Wells, D. (2019). The uninhabitable earth: Life after warming. Tim Duggan Books.
Wennersten, J. R., & Robbins, D. (2017). Rising tides: Climate refugees in the twenty-first century. Indiana University Press.
Wolf, M. (2019, January 29). The challenge of one world, two systems: Unbridled strategic competition between China and the West would be a disaster. The Financial Times.
World Development Indicators. (2019). The World Bank. http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=world-development-indicators.
Xu, Y., Ramanathan, V., & Victor, D. (2018). Global warming will happen faster than we think. Nature, 564, 30–32.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tiberghien, Y. (2021). The EU as Pivotal Player in the Growing China–U.S. Conflict. In: Chand, B., Danner, L.K. (eds) New Challenges and Opportunities in European-Asian Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68632-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68632-1_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-68631-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-68632-1
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)