"Who Will Be the 21st Century’s Rule Maker?" Topic

"Mike Mazarr and I are debating the way Asia will be "governed" in future. That term needs to be placed in quote marks because international affairs aren't analogous to domestic politics – there is no supreme sovereign authority with a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, so states compete for status and influence. And yet the system is not purely anarchic; it has the characteristics of a loosely knitted society whose members subscribe to a common set of rules and practices.

So what is at stake in this debate is the question: who gets to make the rules?

Mazarr argues that the U.S. has an advantage in the contest with China to be Asia's rule-maker. Washington's legacy, he says, is an order which has achieved legitimacy and free consent from allies and partners, and which boasts "mutually beneficial economic, business, social and cultural, and military networks". This, he says, will give the U.S. "tremendous competitive advantages in the rivalry with China – if we do not abandon it"…"
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