China, COVID-19, Global Race for Domination, and theory of Realism

4 min readMar 20, 2021

**United States trying to balance the Rising Chinese power**

Abstract:

The core concept of Realism in international relations like power, self-help, help us to understand the level of anarchy the international system has. it also shows how state behave during crisis through the tools of power (military power, economic power, and self-help). The writer has discussed below the case of China as a state to understand the current lust for power, why state want to be powerful, what drives them to achieve maximum power and most importantly is china as a state will be able to protect itself through these means of power which is her constant desire?

Introduction:

The Chinese desire to protect itself from the anarchic world and dominate others is providing validity to the theory of Realism in 2021. Form BRI, Rivalry in the pacific (south-china sea), trade war with America to the successful containment of COVID-19 has once again proved that maximum power and self-help concept of realism is still valid today in the twenty-first century.

Covid-19, Global race for Domination and Realism:

Realists of all strands consider the state as a principal actor in Global affairs. They also believe in the balance of power and security dilemma. When the first case of COVID-19 appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019, states were the first entities in a position to respond to the situation. States were actors which imposed lockdowns, no international institution was able to respond to the global health crisis, because of the limited capacity of enforcement and resources available to them. The experience of china from the days of opium wars, the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria to the current trade war with the united states guide the state to put a lot of efforts into increasing power because if they fail to pursue their wish for power, security dilemmas might follow them. The Chinese state is well aware of the fact that how much important is power for the future of the Chinese state.

The Chinese state is also aware of the logic that the international system is anarchic, no one is going to help you if you are faced with a security dilemma. Therefore, the Chinese state want to secure their nation, future, and state. They want to achieve the goal of powerful state through the use of power. According to Morgenthau ‘’Power may comprise anything that establishes and maintains the power of man over man… from physical violence to the most subtle psychological tie by which one mind controls another’’.

The state of China has put their eyes on military power, particularly of the hard-core nature. They had spent billions of dollars in the advancement of fighter jets technology, still spending billions to expand their naval forces and warplanes. Because they had reached to conclusion- that their future is now very much linked to military power particularly of naval power. But they had not neglected the flipside of the coin, soft power. They had successfully used their diplomatic skills and cultural values to gain superiority in term of power. Kenneth Waltz offers a thinner explanation for power ‘’His approximation of power includes military strength, economic power, size of population and competence’’. In the domain of economic power, the chines state has outclassed the entire world, their population size matters a lot in this perspective as well and is now the second-largest economy in the world after the united states. In term of military strength, they are on the constant agenda of Naval expansionism, they are also putting a lot of efforts into preparing stealth technology for air force and missiles. The Naval expansion occurred because of the presence of the US navy in the pacific (south-china sea). In the presence of US Naval forces, the Chinese state feels insecure because of the past of the united states what it has done to other states. The world from the days of the Peloponnesian war is on the constant agenda of domination through military power.

The Chinese state lust for power is very much valid because the constant threats they are now facing from the states, which provide legitimacy for their desire to achieve power. So, the concept of Realism, the race to achieve maximum power through the tools of military power, economic power still has deep and strong roots in international relations, which is quite difficult to ignore in the competition of global race for power.