Identity, Race, and the US-China Security Dilemma

US-China relations seem driven by increasing competition, rivalry, and conflict. The two major powers are clearly divided by many interests and policy differences. But how may national identities and even racial perceptions of ‘self’ and the ‘other’ shape discussions on foreign policy towards one another?
In his recent research, professor Alastair Iain Johnston finds that identity differences and perceptions of race and racial stereotyping do play a role in how foreign policy is being discussed, at least among certain actors, in both the US and in China.
Whilst referring to China as a revisionist power remains popular in American debates, and many Chinese typically blame Americans for acting like hegemons seeking to contain them, Johnston shows how certain actors and groups increasingly bring identity questions and racial stereotyping into foreign policy debates.
He argues that this leads to more inaccurate certainty, rather than uncertainty, about how the other country is likely to behave, which in turn can increase the intensity of rivalry.
In this breakfast seminar, NUPI welcomes Johnston to present his research with consideration to evolving US-China relations and security issues in East Asia and beyond. Johnston’s presentation is followed by a conversation with NUPI senior research fellow Hans Jørgen Gåsemyr, with opportunity to ask questions towards the end.
Alastair Iain Johnston is the Governor James Albert Noe and Linda Noe Laine Professor of China in World Affairs in the Government Department at Harvard University. His scholarship draws on social psychology to help understand Chinese foreign policy and US-China security issues, as well as broader issues with relevance for developments in the East Asia region.