Why China Isnt the next soviet.docVIP

Why China Isnt the Next Soviet Union Its unlikely the U.S.–China relations will spiral into a second Cold War. Chinese President Xi Jinping is consolidating power, but the U.S. shouldnt worry about a Cold War standoff. By?Michael CrowleyJune 20, 2014 | 8:27 a.m. EDT+ More Last week, the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a report, Decoding China’s Emerging ‘Great Power’ Strategy in Asia, which?poses the question: What kind of great power does China want to be? The question contains an implied recognition that China may have more control over the terms of its rise than the U.S. would like to admit. Despite a shift towards a more muscular Chinese foreign policy, the report underscores why the U.S.-China relationship is unlikely to develop into a second Cold War. The report’s principal author, Christopher K. Johnson, discussed how the Chinese Communist Party’s current General Secretary, Xi Jingping, has placed a premium on consolidating singular authority over areas of the government – specifically the military and intelligence services – over which past general secretaries did not exercise sole control. He has also been moving towards, in Johnson’s words, “a robust and adroit” and “active” Chinese foreign policy. The discussion centered on the importance of Xi’s departure from China’s traditionally passive role on the world stage. Less discussed was the fact these developments are not surprising in themselves; in fact they have parallels in U.S. history. [READ: Toiling in Shanghais Shadows] While the power of the U.S. presidency has always encompassed command of the armed forces, the creation of the National Security Council and the growth of the U.S. intelligence apparatus after World War II were changes aimed at securing primary control of military and foreign policy within the executive. The U.S. also linked its role on the world stage to its economic growth. Until the early years of the 20thcentury, America was recovering from the Civil War