home > by publication type > daily analysis > Gaming the China Model
Email
| Author: | Michael Moran |
|---|
China is using the 2008 Olympics to showcase its recent rise on the world stage. (AP/Greg Baker)
As national challenges go, hosting an Olympiad surely ranks far below establishing ethnic harmony, a healthy trade balance, peace with neighboring states, or respect for the rule of law. In the glare of the global media, however, the superficial often prevails. China is likely to be judged by much of the planet in the coming weeks on how it stages the Beijing Games, which provide a priceless opportunity to show off achievements at a time when its global competitor, the United States, is struggling with a misfiring economic engine (WSJ) and remains enmeshed in an unpopular war. For all the high-minded invocations of the Olympic spirit, no one should doubt that the Beijing games will be as powerful a marketing campaign for China's authoritarian capitalist model (Foreign Affairs) as any devised by Madison Avenue.
This isn't new. From the inception of the modern Olympics, governments have strained every national muscle to turn the supposedly apolitical games into showcases for national, ideological, or even racial superiority. As this photographic timeline indicates, politics and the Olympics have gone hand-in-hand from the start. Berlin 1936. Moscow 1980. Los Angeles 1984. The list of Olympics colored by geopolitics is lengthy.
Yet the context in which the world views the games also matters. Take the Olympic Games away, and the year China has endured is not necessarily one an aspiring world leader would want to repeat—a point CFR senior fellows Elizabeth C. Economy and Adam Segal made in this recent Foreign Affairs article. A catastrophic earthquake in Sichuan Province caused grievous human suffering, but also deep political damage to the Communist Party's efforts to portray its monopoly on political power as consensual, as parents protested (NYT) the shoddy construction that led to the deaths of so many school children. Beijing’s continued dealings with the regimes running Sudan, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe hardly polished the nation's credentials as a responsible global stakeholder. Internally, nationalist unrest, first in Tibet and surrounding provinces, and then by violent groups seeking independence for the vast Muslim region of Xinjiang, highlighted some of the challenges facing China's rulers.
China has gone to enormous lengths to attempt to prevent journalists from placing the games in this context. Beijing has blocked internet sites (NYSun). Sweeps of dissidents, tightened visa restrictions, and desperate efforts to temporarily curb Beijing's notorious pollution are all meant to display Chinese competence.
The perceived missteps of U.S. policy since 9/11 only abet China's rising stature. Whether or not Iraq or Afghanistan ultimately emerge better off for their contact with U.S. forces, global opinion continues to be unfavorable toward the United States on these two campaigns, as the latest Pew global survey (PDF) indicates. While the Pew survey also found considerable concern about China's influence, there remains an environment in which the China model is "growing disturbingly popular in some circles," says James K. Glassman, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.
When all the medals in Beijing are tallied, China may very well come out on top, displacing the traditional German, Russian, and U.S. powerhouses. That would be a victory of sorts. But the real competition is for hearts and minds in those many nations where poverty and despair persist. Parag Khanna of the New America Foundation sees the future (NYT) as a one in which China, Europe, and America vie for influence among the middleweight powers of the world—countries like Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, and Ukraine. Will such nations heed the counsel of Western liberal democracies even as those countries see their own economic fortunes in relative decline? Or will the gleaming venues, beaming medal winners, and economic rise of China tempt them to think otherwise?
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba’s unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
To request permission to reprint or reuse CFR material, please fill out this permissions request form (PDF), referring to the instructions on page 1.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.