American policy toward China is defined by a debate between the ‘functionalists’ and the ‘strategists.’ This time last year, ‘strategists’ were being sidelined as impractical trouble-makers and the functionalists were ascendant. But China’s increased assertiveness over the past few months has changed the Barack Obama administration’s approach. In the competitive and sometimes nasty world of international politics, strategists now hold sway and functionalists are increasingly on the defensive.
First things first: what do these two sides believe? Strongly supported by many Democrats, the functionalists are mostly economists, or those who focus on the benefits of the economic relationship. Usually urbane and warning against the demonization of China, they argue that the United States and China are so economically intertwined that both sides have an overwhelming interest in avoiding war. Functionalists openly admit that serious disagreements exist. But they argue that the best way to proceed is to treat China as a strategic partner since this will promote win-win cooperation rather than zero-sum competition. Since tensions are due largely to misunderstanding rather than fundamental disagreement, closer economic and strategic integration will dissolve the most serious bilateral problems.
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