July 12, 2023
The Myth of Neutrality
Countries Will Have to Choose Between America and China
As the U.S.-Chinese rivalry intensifies, other countries increasingly confront the dilemma of siding with either Washington or Beijing. This is not a choice that most countries wish to make. Over the past decades, foreign capitals have come to enjoy security and economic benefits from association with both the United States and China. These countries know that joining a coherent political-economic bloc would mean forgoing major benefits from their ties to the other superpower.
The number of unavoidable dilemmas will only rise as the U.S.-Chinese rivalry intensifies.
“The vast majority of Indo-Pacific and European countries do not want to be trapped into an impossible choice,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, observed at a 2022 meeting of the Brussels Indo-Pacific Forum. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., noted in 2023 that his country does not “want a world that is split into two camps [and] … where countries should choose what side they would be on.” Similar sentiments have been expressed by many leaders, including Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s deputy prime minister, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud. The message to Washington and Beijing is clear: no country wants to be forced into a binary decision between the two powers.
Read the full article from Foreign Affairs.
More from CNAS
-
Quad: The Next Phase
Reports
Executive Summary The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) among the United States, Australia, India, and Japan is becoming the focal point for economic and technological co...
By Lisa Curtis, Kareen Hart, Ryan Claffey, Keerthi Martyn & Thomas Corel
-
America’s Middle East Trap is China’s Strategic Windfall
Commentary
China’s approach to any escalation in the Middle East reflects its broader strategy of free-riding on U.S. security commitments....
By Adham Sahloul
-
U.S.-Japan Relations Under the Trump Administration 2.0
Video
In this thought-provoking discussion, Richard Fontaine, CEO of CNAS and co-author of “Lost Decade”; and Ken Jimbo, president of Asia Pacific Initiative at the International Ho...
By Richard Fontaine
-
U.S.-India Trade Talks Show Progress, but Major Hurdles Remain, Says Strategist
Video
Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, says the U.S. and India are making progress toward a trade deal, driven by shared geostrategic ...
By Rachel Ziemba
