The World Turned Upside Down: America, China and the Struggle for Global Leadership
Published 08 March 2021
The Hinrich Foundation hosted renowned economist, globalization and Asia expert Clyde Prestowitz to review and discuss his new book, 'The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership'. In a wide-ranging discussion with Dr. Elizabeth Economy of the Hoover Institution and Edward Alden of the Council on Foreign Relations, the panel discussed alliances, dependency and the implications of a new US industrial policy for China.
In his well-received book, The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership, Mr. Prestowitz describes the key challenges posed by China and the strategies America and other liberal democracies must adopt to meet them. He argues that these approaches must be more sophisticated and comprehensive than a narrowly targeted trade war, and that they don't have to contravene international or domestic law.
During the panel discussion:
- Mr. Prestowitz emphasized that it is now time to adopt a more realist approach to economic relations, return to a US model of industrial policy, and be less concerned with trying to change China.
- Dr. Economy noted that Beijing appears to be anticipating this shift by promoting self-sufficiency, and is focused on a more ‘values-based’ policy which would bring together the world’s leading economies in an ‘alliance of like-minded’ countries.
- Mr. Alden identified the possibility of bipartisan support for the kind of domestic revitalization policies that Mr. Prestowitz calls for but advised that greater emphasis should be given to rebuilding alliances.
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