Exporting the American Dream? Ideology and US China Policy Since 9/11

Abstract

Ideology is an important though not dominant factor driving the US foreign policy. Amid intensifying great-power rivalry, Washington in recent years has increasingly stepped up its ideological offensive against Beijing. Latest US efforts in this regard include exporting core values associated with the American Dream, e.g., individual freedoms, liberal ideals, and democratic institutions. The three consecutive administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump had all incorporated ideological components into their policy toward Beijing despite their differences of policy priority vis-à-vis China. Long vigilant about the West’s ideological offensive, Beijing had been pushing back against Washington’s efforts by promoting a rival narrative, the Chinese Dream. Even though Beijing has roundly rejected Washington’s framing of US–China relations in years to come as democracy versus autocracy rivalry and tried hard to insulate China’s relations with the rest of the world from rising geopolitical tensions with the United States, the great and growing ideological rift between the two major powers and their divergent perspectives on and approaches to the big issues of the day may herald an era in which an increasing number of global challenges as well as bilateral disputes and crises defy easy and quick solutions.