In the heady days of the 1990s, "globalization" was a phenomenon requiring "others" to marketize and eventually democratize. Unfortunately, less time was spent considering how globalization, and China's multidimensional entry into the world system, would require change in America itself. This oversight contributed to two problems. Internationally, it turned the United States into a global nanny, telling others how they ought to proceed in making the domestic adjustments globalization seemingly required of them, without paying due attention to the implications for ourselves. Domestically, Americans became complacent about maintaining and enhancing the infrastructure of our own national competitiveness, particularly human capital.
Because of its size, rate of change, unanticipated success and political coloration, China has become the poster child for those aspects of globalization that threaten the United States. For his part, President Bush has a balanced view and is seeking to keep relations on an even keel. In his May 31 press conference, he noted that "the relationship with China is a very complex relationship, and Americans ought to view it as such." But increasingly, as seen in the reaction to the attempted takeover of Unocal by the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation, more Americans are beginning to view China in ominous terms. We have witnessed a marked paradigm shift in thinking about China in the last few years, one that threatens to substitute one flawed framework (a "weak China") with another (a "China on steroids"). An April public opinion poll conducted by the Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center found that 31 percent of Americans polled agreed with the statement, "China will soon dominate the world."
