The Political Economy of U.S. Containment: China’s Response, Imperial Legacies, and U.S.-China Relations

The ideological narratives surrounding the U.S. policy toward China, specifically the framing of China’s rise as a security threat that justifies containment and protectionism, require critical examination. Drawing on Marxist theory, the economic roots of these containment and protectionist measures, framed as national security concerns, can be exposed. In contrast with these dominant narratives, the true drivers of U.S. containment strategies prove to lie in deeper economic contradictions, including the crisis of U.S. hegemony and the declining profitability of global capitalism. By shifting focus from ideological justifications to material imperatives, what emerges is a new understanding of U.S.-China tensions and the role of economic forces in shaping international relations.