An den Grenzen des American Empire: Geopolitische Folgen des chinesischen Aufstiegs1

During the last decade, China has become an active player in global political economy. China’s rise has led to important structural changes: First, China is close to replace the US as the “consumer of last resort” in the world economy, thus, being able to influence states and companies in other world regions by granting or restricting access to its huge domestic market. Second, China is heavily investing in infrastructure and commodity supply chains in the Global South, thereby gaining control over important trade routes. And, third, China has become a major creditor of several governments, thus, challenging US-dominated international financial institutions such as the IMF. The paper draws on World-Systems Analysis in order to give an assessment of these developments. Even though China’s influence in global political economy is likely to continue to grow, internal and external factors (China’s increasing economic woes and the US counterstrategy in East Asia) might stall China’s rise