Do Not Throw Them in the Same Basket: China and Russia Through the Perspective of US Engagement
Abstract
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has applied a policy of engagement towards China and Russia. During the administration of Barack Obama, this approach led to two different outcomes: while the American relations with Russia reached their lowest point and international sanctions were imposed on Russia during his term, in the case of China, the US relations with it were better than prior to the election of Barack Obama. The goal of this article is to determine why this occurred. I come to the conclusion that China and Russia adopted different forms of engagement in regard to the US. While China has been working on its power and prestige in close cooperation with the United States, and therefore it should not be labeled as a “revisionist power”, Russia has tried to re-establish its power potential and international prestige in opposition to the United States. Therefore Russia can be called a “revisionist power”.
Keywords
US Foreign Policy, Engagement, Revisionism, Barack Obama, China, Russia
Author Biography
Pavel Hlaváček
Pavel Hlaváček, born in 1980 in Zlín, he earned his university degree (a Master’s Degree in Political Science) at the Department of Political Science and European Studies, Palacky University in Olomouc. Later he continued with studies (gaining a PhDr. & a PhD in Political Science) at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he currently works as a full time professor. As a student he held a short term internship at the University of Portsmouth (2002),Valdosta State University (2004) and Universidad Pablo de Olavide (2004- 2005). His research area is focused primarily on US foreign policy and security issues of the East Asia region. He has repeatedly been a visiting professor at Hanoi University in Vietnam and the National University of Mongolia.