2025/01/01 by Kabutaulaka, Tarcisius, Wesley-Smith, Terence
Social Sciences · #International Relations and Foreign Policy #Island Studies and Pacific Affairs #World Systems and Global Transformations
paper · doi:10.26021/16148
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/11/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
A seismic shift is underway in global politics as the primacy of the United States (US)—and the Western world in general—faces its most significant challenge since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. Propelled by rapid economic growth, command of cuttingedge technologies, and expanding military power, the People’s Republic of China (China) has emerged as a formidable force on the world stage. China is now the largest trading partner for some 120 countries and a significant source of investment capital in the developing world. As its global influence has grown, Beijing has become more assertive in pressing China’s core security interests, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where the US and its allies have long held sway. China’s rise poses a threat to Washington’s long-standing dominance of international institutions and norms, as well as the alliance system that has allowed the US to project power around the globe since the end of World War II.