The Invisible Hand of Great Power Politics: China and United States Fight for Economic Supremacy in Asia
It is widely accepted that the future of the world will rest in the hands of Chinese and U.S. world leaders. Both President Obama and President Xi have, on numerous occasions, voiced this sentiment. In 2013, in a joint press conference with Obama in California, President Xi said, “A sound China-U.S. cooperation can serve as the ballast for global stability and the propeller for world peace.”1 Their choice to cooperate (or not) will shape every global issue from nuclear weapons and terrorism to trade and technology. This is the first great confrontation between great powers with profoundly different world views since the Cold War, and yet there is greater cooperation and negotiation between the two sides than that which existed between the United States and Soviet Union. We have already seen how the complex relationship between the U.S. and China has shaped the internal economic workings of the two countries. It is estimated that China now employs nearly one million Americans, and it is likely that America employs many more Chinese; furthermore, investment and foreign capital flows benefit both economies.2 Domestically, the impact of trade relations has already been shown and its benefits and drawbacks
