Title
“The Derisking Race: China, America and the Fragmentation of the Global Economy”
Authors
Aaron L. Friedberg | Professor of politics and international affairs, emeritus
Publisher
International Institute for Strategic Studies
From the Author
“The United States and China are today engaged in what can best be described as a derisking race. Having encouraged their economies to become deeply intertwined, each nation is now attempting to achieve significant separation from the other. Neither side currently seeks to decouple completely. Instead, each is trying to alter the terms of their economic relationship, reducing its own vulnerability to leverage, coercion, or attacks that could damage its prosperity and security, while working to maintain or acquire advantages over its counterparty.
“The derisking race is thus a struggle for power, albeit one waged in the realms of trade, investment, and technology development; it is the economic dimension of the all-encompassing political, military, and ideological ‘systemic rivalry’ now underway between the two Pacific powers. How the race plays out will be crucial to determining the outcome of the larger geopolitical contest of which it is part. As it intensifies, it will also reshape the world economy, halting the trend towards ever-tighter integration and fracturing the global system, most likely into a cluster of partially closed blocs. While its pace and outcome have yet to be determined, this process of fragmentation is already underway.”
—Aaron L. Friedberg
Book cover and headshot courtesy of Aaron Friedberg.
