“Large Space” and the (New) Cold War

The Interaction between Global Privilege and the Discursive Construction of the ‘China Threat’ in the ‘New Cold War’

“…Much as it transpired during the ‘Cold War’ against the Soviet Union, Manichean paradigms tend to define and perpetuate a frivolous and distorted division between virtuous heroes and dreadful villains. This is an unsophisticated and dichotomous ‘Schmittian’ worldview defined by the ‘culture of enmity’, which can be described as a discursive framework fixated on purposively identifying and constructing insurmountable differences with a chosen ‘Other’ to ultimately legitimate its elimination (see Brossat & Ruiz Casado, 2023). Carl Schmitt argued that the essence of the political lies in the distinction between friend and enemy, which derives from the most extreme case of emergency, war, overriding all other distinctions (Marchart, 2007, p. 41).…”

“…Last but not least, the Manichean and determinist worldview of 'democracy' versus 'autocracy' currently depicted by the hegemonic narrative does not take into account the contingency of political regimes. To begin with, the hegemonic 'culture of enmity' presently active in many democracies tends to narrow the scope of pluralism by censoring conciliatory approaches as shows of weakness or even betrayal (see Brossat & Ruiz Casado, 2023). Secondly, the fact that the United States-and other countries in the 'Global North'-is today a liberal democracy does not mean it will always be, as the election of politicians such as Donald Trump and his controversial exit demonstrated.…”

“…This article draws on discourse theory and privilege studies to examine the relationship between privilege understood within a global frame and the discursive construction of the ‘China threat’ in the current geopolitical landscape marked by a hegemonic struggle between China and its allies on one side and the ‘Global North’ on the other. The ensuing tensions, which have led to a growing usage of the term ‘New Cold War’ (e.g., Brossat & Ruiz Casado, 2023; Karaganov, 2018; Zhao, 2019), can accurately be described as a multidimensional confrontation envisaged in terms of ‘emotional attachment, security concerns and economic interests’ (Chen, 2013, p. 247).…”

“…Hence, even though the ‘China threat’ narrative has received wide attention, the divergent and conflicting perceptions it elicits warrant an examination of how these differences are related to the presence of privilege understood within a global frame. As an initial step, it is crucial to recognise that the narrative that aims to attribute intrinsically malevolent and menacing attributes to China’s ascent has achieved hegemony in the globally privileged ‘Global North’, especially in the United States (see Brossat & Ruiz Casado, 2023). Within that context, this article systematically investigates how this hegemonic discursive construction of China as an ‘enemy’ and a ‘threat’ interacts with the material conditions of ‘global privilege’ in a diversity of spheres (political, military, economic, technological, cultural and academic).…”