"Understanding the debate in U.S. foreign policy regarding the benefits of multilateralism and China in the Joe Biden Administration," in The EU after the European elections: Priorities, Challenges, Relations with the World, EUXGLOB IV International

During the Joe Biden administration, debates over U.S.-China relations crystallized around the benefits of multilateralism. Proponents argue that collaboration helps manage conflicts, prevent escalation, and promote peaceful dispute resolution. Critics warn that China’s rapid advancements in 5G, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity—coupled with state-led policies like subsidies, market access restrictions, and forced technology transfers—pose significant threats to U.S. security and fair competition. These debates resulted in the formation of three advocacy coalitions. One favored sustained engagement with China to achieve shared benefits and higher global standards. A second advocated leveraging strategic technologies to secure a competitive advantage in the great power rivalry with China. The third proposed a balanced, flexi-lateral strategy, using selective decoupling to reduce technological interdependence on critical Chinese supply chains. This paper employs the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to identify these coalitions’ policy positions through media and document analysis, assessing their influence on Biden’s strategic technology policy.