Event Recap
Asia has been and will continue to play a major role for Europe and the United States. During this discussion, panelists explored how Asia views the Transatlantic relationship and what they believe the West could improve upon.
One of the top critiques of the panelists was the United States' handling of its role as the global hegemon. Today, the western hegemon promotes free trade and democracy, systems that encourange cooperation and collaboration rather than rival camps or identity tribes. Given this perspective, there is general confusion and angst in the American insistence that its allies and partners choose between itself and China. It is this same unease on choosing a side that led most Asian countries to not pick a side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, deciding to remain neutral and continue working with both Russia and Western countries.
Some panelists also discussed how they believed that although China supports Russia through trade, they are not trying to destabilize or recreate a new international order. They explained how China benefits from the current international order led by the United States. They claimed that by destabilizing American leadership China would be forced to take on new leadership role, a role that China cannot, will not, and should not take on. Instead, China allegedly wants a strong and prosperous US because in the past it has led to a stable and manageable relationship with the US and a rise in Chinese prosperity.
Experts then went on to argue that although China continues to grow, the US remains a better choice as an ally. This is due to the fact that the US can provide more security options because the US is the current hegemonic power. Hegemonic powers are predictable in their actions and how they respond to events. The issue that the panelists are observing now though is that although hegemons maintain the international order, they sometimes tend to break their own rules. By breaking its own rules, the hegemon loses its predictability and evolves into empire, an unstable and unpredictable body. Even with this slide toward empire, panelists said that states are still not dissuaded from currently working with the US compared to China.
