Can we compete with China and also save the planet?

The joint agreement between the United States and China on “enhancing climate action” was rightly seen as a step forward — but, for now, a very small step. It did not have the kinds of specific targets that marked the 2014 agreement negotiated by the Obama administration that preceded the Paris accords. But it did suggest the resumption of serious dialogue between the world’s two largest economies and largest emitters of greenhouse gases — which would explain why so many nations felt the statement gave new energy to climate action. Coming as it did after years of strained relations between Washington and Beijing, it highlights the central dilemma for U.S. foreign policy going forward. Should it be focused on solving the largest and most challenging global problems, or should it be focused on competing with China?

As Uri Friedman notes in the Atlantic, President Biden spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in September about “a fundamental truth of the 21st century” that “our security, our prosperity, and our very freedoms are interconnected,” and declared that “we must work together as never before.” When thinking about the cutting-edge issues of the future — such as climate, pandemics, cyberwarfare and cybersecurity — it’s difficult to see how much can be achieved without some collaboration between the United States and China.

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