Dialogue with Patrick deGategno

• Source: Global Times
• [11:18 November 13 2009]
• Comments

Global Times: The overall gap between China and the US is getting smaller…will the two countries have more strategic conflicts than strategic cooperation?

DeGategno:  I think the gap is getting smaller, but, as Chinese officials and experts are often quick to point out, China still has a significant uphill climb before it completes its industrialization project and finishes building a harmonious society. That aside, no, I do not think the two countries will have more strategic competition than cooperation. As China's interests in the world increase so too will its stake in global leadership and international responses to strategic global challenges. The US wants China to have the chance to articulate its international responsibilities. As I said earlier, Obama seeks a framework for relations in which both states can respond to global challenges coordinately without impeding each other's national interests. However, this ability of the two countries to work more closely together in the future will depend on reducing mutual distrust about each other's long term intentions in the relationship. If this mistrust does not diminish over time, we may be able to continue to cooperate in some areas, but we will remain fundamentally unable to elevate the US-China relationship into a comprehensive strategic partnership. For now though as long as both countries remain sober about the limits of cooperation, we can work within those limits

Global Times: Many people are talking about a G2 between China and the US. What do you think of that? Would this be a good thing for the respective countries and the world?

DeGategno:  There's no question the US and China share a unique relationship, but G2, an academic formulation, does not reflect the fundamental reality of US and Chinese interests and policies with regard to each other or their friends and allies. G2 implies the US and China would form a condominium of some sorts in which we agree to act together and independently, or at least in disregard to, each country's global partners. China and the US cannot afford now or ever to focus on each other at the expense of global partners, and no global strategic challenge can be solved by the US and China alone. However, working together the US and China could potentially act as catalysts for generating multilateral strategic consensus on how to address issues such as developing clean energy, solving transnational security challenges, and addressing global healthcare.