Trump and the End of an Era? The Liberal International Order in Perspective

ABSTRACT

The liberal international economic and political order which the United States created from the ashes of World War II and has since led is in trouble. To United States President Donald Trump, the order which provided the framework under which sovereign states agreed to follow a rules-based system of economic and political cooperation and shared multilateral governance, has not only allowed other nations (in particular, China) to take advantage of US ‘magnanimity’, but also weakened the United States economically, while asymmetric alliances compromised its military advantages. Given the sustained assault this cosmopolitan order is facing, many fear that it may not survive if Trump is re-elected in November 2020. Indeed, if the United States response to the COVID-19 pandemic is any guide, an ‘America First’ agenda, especially a hard-line approach to China, will shape US policy if Trump wins a second term.     

China''''s Diplomacy and the Shaping of International Order

As China is a rising power, the guiding principles of its foreign policy will undoubtedly exert important influence on the development and changes of international order, hence people's attention to it. However, while defining the guiding principles of it…     

China and the Changing World——Summary of the International Seminar in Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the CICIR(Part Ⅰ)

To celebrate its 30th anniversary,the China Institutes for Contemporary International Relations hosted a two-day seminar titledThe Changing world and Chinaon September 4-5 in Beijing.The fast-day seminar was held in the Shangri-la Hotel.Mr.Zhang Zhijun,Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs gave the keynote speech.Over seventy scholars from the United States,Russia,France,Romania,Japan,Korea,Australia,Singapore,Turkey,Pakistan,India,South Africa and China attended.     

Concept and Practice of New International Order

New international order is a worldwide topic under unceasing discussion. It is related to a complex array of issues. People have consensus as well as differences about it. Our understanding about the new international order is also constantly changing and deepening.     

Views on the Current International Situation and Future International Order

The contemporary world situation is undergoing complex and deep changes and at a conjuncture of major transformation and readjustment. Generally speaking, the international situation is stable and the common wish of the people of the world is to seek peace, development and cooperation. The international balance of power is developing in the direction favourable to world peace, leaving little possibility of major scourge of war that may disequilibrate world configuration. But the old problems affecting world tranquillity are still pending with cropping up of new problems and new conflicts. The relations among major world powers are undergoing delicate changes. There is uncertainty in regional conflicts and hot spot issues in the Middle East and Africa. Traditional security threats are intertwined with non-traditional ones.     

International Order in the 21st Century and China''''s Foreign Policy

Dramatic changes have occurred in the post-Cold Warworld strategic configuration and international order withtheir replacements burgeoning. This confronts nations, bigpowers in particular, with new strategic choices. Indeed unfol-ding before us is a contention among them for seizing the initia-tive in the emerging international landscape in the21st century.Thus how to correctly assess and respond to these changes forpursuing a reasonable strategy and selecting a right policy op-tion is not on…     

Disintegration and Remodeling of the Islamic World by Western International Order

Irreparable consequences to Middle East geopolitics ensued as the political systems in the Islamic world declined in a process that began under the persistent infiltration and influence of the Western ideal of nation-state.Three progressive stages in this conceptual transformation show how longstanding multinational imperial systems in the Islamic world disintegrated after the introduction of uone nation,one staten forced upon Middle East states an unrealistic model and eroded the principle of supremacy of sovereignty that had just been established.Interventionist theories that took hold meant that the Islamic world's self-transformation has never caught up with the demand of Western strategies.The Islamic realm has failed to achieve what it set out to do because political systems that would have been adaptive to the reality of the Islamic world had collapsed.     

China and the Changing World——Summary of the International Seminar in Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the CICIR(Part Ⅱ)

China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR)hosted an international symposium on China and the Changing World on September 4-5, 2010 to commemorate its 30th anniversary. Four panel discussions were held on China-U.S. relations, the emerging powers,China-Europe relations and Asia-Pacific cooperation. A summary of the discussions and the concluding speech by CICIR President Cui Liru are as follows.     

China＇s Rise and the International Pattern

Three basic elements stand out in the international pattern：global power distribution,the system of international norms,and the transnational value systems,all of which are of vital importance in the interaction between China＇s rise and the future international pattern.     

Managing East Asia''''s Political and Security Risks:From the Perspective of Transition of International Order

In the sixty years after World War II, albeit with unceasing local conflicts, Asia as a whole moved into a relatively stable period of peace. It has been also a period of the most rapid and sound development in history indeed. However, the international order has broken down, and it is in a historical transition period. Different from the transition of international order at     

An Overview of the International Situation in the 1~(st) Quarter of 2006

1. Adjustments were made in the U.S.diplomatic strategy and deployment. The U.S.adjusted its diplomacy and published President’sState of Union Message as well as NationalSecurity Strategy Report. According to Rice’sstrategy for “transformation diplomacy”the U.S.would pay more attention to the emerging andtransitional countries, entrust the U.S. diplomacythe newtask and reorganize and strengthen the U.S.foreign aid institutions. Bush said in his State ofUnion Message that China and…     

Specific Feature of the International Situation in 2002 and the Trend of Its Development

Ｐｒｏｆｏｕｎｄｃｈａｎｇｅｓｈａｖｅｔａｋｅｎｐｌａｃｅｉｎｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌｓｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎｉｎ 2 0 0 2ａｎｄｔｈｅｙｗｅｒｅｔｈｅｒｅｓｕｌｔｓｂｒｏｕｇｈｔａｂｏｕｔｂｙｔｈｅＳｅｐｔｅｍｂｅｒ 11ｅｖｅｎｔｓ.Ｔｈｅｏｖｅｒａｌｌｔｒｅｎｄｉｎｓｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｃｏｎｔｉｎｕｅｄｔｏｂｅｒｅ ｌａｘｅｄｕｐａｎｄｃｏｏｐｅｒａｔｉｏｎｉｎａｎｔｉ -ｔｅｒｒｏｒｉｓｍｈａｓｅｘｔｅｎｄｅｄｉｎｄｉｍｅｎｓｉｏｎｓ,ａｎｄａｎｅｗｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅｏｆｍｕｔｕａ…     

Changes in the Features of Major Contradictions

Immediately after humanity entered the new century,the worldseems somewhat a bit turbulent because of the following events.First are the September 11 events,which were followed by U.S.militaryattacks against Afghanistan.Last year witnessed the continuity of Arab-Israel conflicts in the Middle East,and at the very beginning of the newyear,the United States dispatched warships to the Persian Gulf for a“war to topple the Saddam regime”.The Democratic People's Republicof Korea(DPRK)suddenly declared that it has decided to withdraw fromthe Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty just after Iraq stated that it wasdetermined to resist the United States.Whither the world in the new year?This is a question that all of the academic circles on international relationsare trying to answer.To this end,on January 9,2002,we speciallyinvited Lu Zhongwei,Research Professor and President of China Instituteof Contemporary International Relations and some other experts oninternational relations from the institute to hold a symposium with the theme“Prospect on World Trend 2003.”Now we present their discussions as anew-year gift to our readers who are always in support of our journal.Wehope this would do a bit for their mastery of international situation.     

An Overall Review of the International Situation in the 2~(nd) Quarter of 2006

1. The tendency that both mutual cooperation and restriction among major powers was getting obvious. The contradictions between the U.S. and Russia were increasing. The two countries had more competition in the CIS region. As an effort to push its " Grea…     

An Overall Review of the International Situation in the 3~(rd) Quarter of 2005

1. There was a new trend of interactions among major powers and increasing Sino-U.S. constructive cooperation.(1)The U .S.and R ussiacontinued the struggle between them in C entral A 鄄 sia and Transcaucasia.In July,D efense Secretary D onald H .R um sfeld visited C entral A sia to deal w ith the issue of the continued stay of the U .S. troops there.The U .S.broadcast a video interview w ith Basayev,the leaderofthe illegalarm ed groups in Chechnya and alleged thatR ussia suppressed t…     

An Overall Review of the International Situation in the 4~(th) Quarter of 2004

I.Some of the world's major powers have tak-en various actions both at hom e and abroad to meet the changing situation.Gorge W.Bush was successfully re-elected with both an Electoral College majority and a majority of the popular votes while the U.S.Republican Party gained con-trol of the congress.The Bush cabinet shuffle was about to complete with Condoleezza Rice to be the Secretary of State and the in fluence of conser-vatists to be further increased.Bush was reforming the U.S. intell…     

Views of China and Europe on the New Order of the World

The 7^th Sino-German Security Dialogue Seminar is focused on ＂China, Europe and a new world order＂. Our discussions should include the world order in general, as well as in-depth exchanges on specific issues in the area of international relations that both countries deem important. I want to get to the point directly by stating a basic point： although many factors in the international politics continue to change, as old challenges still exist and new challenges keep cropping up, there still remains a cornerstone for the world order, which is the Unites Nations. This is a starting point very close to the real politics： we must advance the international politics within current structure, and I would like to stress that such international politics must be international politics for peace.     

Summary of the Speech at the Seminar on "International Security Order after the Iraq War

Inthisgoldenseasonofautumntheseminaron″InternationalSecurityOrderaftertheIraqWar″whichissponsoredjointlybytheInternationalDepartmentoftheCPCCentralCommitteeIDCPCCCtheChineseAssociationforInternationalUnderstandingCAFIUandtheFriedrichEbertStiftungFESofGermanyisnowopentodayinBeijing.OnbehalfofCAFIUIwouldliketoextendmywarmwelcometoguestsMr.Scharpingandotherparticipantsandtoexpressmysincerecongratulationstotheopenningoftheseminar.Itisofgreatsignificancethattodayspecialistsoninte…