US Abstracts

Panel 7: Great Power Relations and the International Arms Control Agenda

Great Power Relations and the International Arms Control Agenda

Michael A. McDevitt and David M. Finkelstein

One of the critical and defining factors that distinguishes the foreign policies of the US, Russia and China is the different perceptual lenses through which they view the larger international security environment. The central contradiction is that while the US sees its position a result of "the turning wheel of history, not of design, and its security mechanisms stabilizing, other great power such as Russia and China see "a conscious strategy for continued dominance at the expense of others, and the maintenance of Cold War mechanisms that no longer serve any useful purpose other than to allow the US to engage in power politics and hegemonies." As a result of the rivalry inherent in these differing views of international security, the strategic context for arms control has been negatively tainted and perhaps poisoned for the near future. Despite these opposing assessments of world trends, the US, Russia and China agree on a host of transnational threats such as terrorism, international organized crime, drug trafficking, environmental degradation, illegal immigration and proliferation. In fact, these trends may help "to develop habits of cooperation" among the US, Russia and China which would be useful in addressing issues of high-security such as arms control and nonproliferation.

Michael A. McDevitt is a Senior Fellow and Director of Project Asia at the Center for Naval Analysis. Dr. David M. Finkelstein is the Deputy Director of Project Asia at the Center for Naval Analysis.

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