Collective Resilience: Deterring China’s Weaponization of Economic Interdependence

Summary

Since the 2010s, China has used economic coercion against Western and Asian states to achieve territorial and political goals. China leverages its market in a form of “predatory liberalism” that weaponizes the networks of interdependence created by globalization. But interdependence, even asymmetric interdependence, is a two-way street. Targets of China’s bullying could band together to practice economic deterrence by promising to retaliate against China’s high-dependence trade should Beijing act against any one of the alliance members.