China's Rise in Europe: A Threat to U.S. Hegemony?

About

Speaker: Thomas Cavanna, Assistant Research Professor, Center for Strategic Studies, Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University

After decades of engagement, European leaders have recently adopted an increasingly defensive stance vis-à-vis China. Experts are thoroughly debating the implications of this pushback for the United States. But less attention has been given to the deeper historical and geopolitical dimensions of the matter: What does China's rise in Europe mean for U.S. grand strategy?

To tackle this question, this seminar introduces a holistic and inter-regional framework of analysis that borrows from hegemonic order theory, analytic eclecticism, and field theory. It then confronts Beijing's post–Cold War strides in Europe to the foundations of America's post–World War II hegemony in the economic, military, and ideational domains.

The seminar makes two arguments. First, China never came close to matching Washington's influence in Europe. However, for all their limitations, its European strides have helped Chinese leaders bridge the gap with America's power, erode its local clout, and diminish its extra-regional and systemic influence.

Everyone is welcome to join us via Zoom! Register in advance for this meeting:  https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcrcOGqqzsiHdOyZkV41u_yqYbdbXbuDWiN

Contact

For more information, email the International Security Program Assistant at susan_lynch@harvard.edu.