Dynamics of Ideological Competition

• In Event: China’s Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy in the New Era

Abstract

What role does ideology play in strategic competition and what are the dynamics of ideological competition? After reviewing the subtleties and ambiguities of “ideological competition” in existing works, we propose a new theoretical framework that focuses on the ideological dispositions of incumbent administrations, both democratic and authoritarian. Great powers may consider their governing ideology to be more particularistic—bespoke to the specific history and culture of the state and ill-suited for replication elsewhere; or universalistic—deemed cosmopolitan in nature and applicable to states of all histories and cultures. By underscoring shifts in ideological dispositions, we recognize explicitly that a regime may hold certain beliefs about ordering its domestic system and espouse a different set of attitudes toward the international order. Ideological competition thus pertains when great powers of differing ideologies seek to shape the international order in ways that reinforce their domestic legitimacy. Using this framework, we further specify the dynamics of ideological competition and the prospects of escalation, détente, and security dilemma among great powers of varying ideological dispositions. To illustrate empirically, we trace ideological competitions from the Cold War period between the United States and the Soviet Union to the post-Cold War period between the United States and China. We find that a peaceful order is possible, but it may indeed be a less liberal one. A future détente between the United States and China must forge a world safe for both autocracy and democracy.

Authors

• Jessica Chen Weiss, Johns Hopkins SAIS

• Eun A Jo, Cornell University