Fundación Universitaria Colombo Internacional

Programa de Derecho, VII semestre.

Asignatura: International law and international relations
Cindy Margarita López Marrugo.

ANALYSIS OF THE TRADE WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND

CHINA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF LIBERALISM.
From the perspective of international relations, the latent trade war between the United
States and China can be studied as another obvious dispute between the current world
powers for sovereignty and political power; However, from the perspective of liberalism as
a theory of international relations, this event could be analyzed from another approach a
little deeper, such as the negative repercussions that it could have, not only for those
involved but for different countries around the world, due to the inability of the two main
actors to cooperate. Despite the conciliations that have been taking place between the
United States and China, the tension is remarkable, since it is well known that neither of the
two powers wants to give up too much, since giving up too much would imply a decrease in
the power they have over the other country. These two powers, in order to preserve their
power, have been executing actions and retaliating against each other, ignoring that each
action taken will end up indirectly affecting their own territory, a cause-effect relationship
that could be explained through of the interdependence between states referred to in the
theory of liberalism. The point is that, according to the theory of liberalism, the
international system is subject to a constant butterfly effect, according to which each
decision affects everyone, including whoever made it. The United States cannot pretend to
attack China hoping that the consequences will be only for the recipient of the attack, and,
in this order of ideas, according to the theory of liberalism, the best option would be for
both states to cooperate and reach an agreement, although that means having to give in a
little in the interest of achieving a common good, instead of acting individually, giving free
rein to a dispute of which, in the long run, none will win.