How US-China battle for control of the ‘global order’ is being played out in the South China Sea
Mark J. Valencia says while the US may paint China as an opponent of international order that is ‘militarising’ the South China Sea, it is no stranger to bending global norms, or to militarisation, itself
According to historian Paul Schroeder, the statesmen at the time had learned “from bitter experience that war was revolution [and] that something else even more fundamental to the existence of ordered society was vulnerable and could be overthrown: the existence of any international order at all”.
After its victory in the second world war, the US became the leader of the transformation to a new international order. This led to the Atlantic Charter and the founding of the United Nations. Ever since, the US has “pursued its global interests through creating and maintaining international economic institutions, bilateral and regional security organisations, and liberal political norms”, according to one RAND analysis.
This new international order was – and still is – centred on a US grand strategy. To the US, it comprises a rules-based free trade system, a hub-and-spoke military alliance system, multilateral cooperation and international law to solve global problems, and the proselytising of democracy and other American “values”. The US believes that challenging these principles, norms and values undermines its legitimacy and that of the international order.
Whether it’s trade, Taiwan or the South China Sea, the US doesn’t hold a winning hand against China