Systems Competition

The third type of inter-system competition involves Western democracies competing with authoritarian forms of state capitalism that can be found in China, but also, in slightly different forms, in Russia and other smaller states like Vietnam. This type of inter-system competition involves economic competition and military supremacy. Will Chinese state capitalism outperform market economies in science, technology and ultimately in terms of economic dynamism and efficiency? Will China’s role in developing and emerging economies, especially in Africa, grow and reduce the influence of the West? Will this happen to the extent that the global economic and trade order will be increasingly geared towards China’s interests? This raises the more fundamental question of whether there is a future for Western values like the freedom of private individuals, the rule of law and freedom of speech?