The Great Unmooring: China, the United States, and the Politics of Reaction

The Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs program on Security and Global Affairs presents Edward Steinfeld and his talk, “The Great Unmooring China, the United States and the Politics of Reaction.”

Today, China and the United States are locked in a hostile rivalry. Why? The answer has as much to do with their internal political trajectories as with traditional geopolitical factors. Despite glaring institutional differences, since the 1990s each responded to globalization and technological change in ways that gave birth to reactionary politics. As China and the US embraced ethno-nationalism, jingoism, and the politics of rage, they came to view the other as an obstacle to national ambitions. This talk will explore how factors in the 1990s and early 21st century led to these outcomes, and their implications for the future.

Edward Steinfeld is the Howard R. Swearer Director of the Thomas J. Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Dean’s Professor of China Studies, professor in the Department of Political Science, and director of the China Initiative.

To join this webinar, please use this Zoom link or visit the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs events.